Supreme Court Rejects Alex Jones' Request in Sandy Hook Case

High court offered no comment on its decision
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted Apr 6, 2021 2:04 AM CDT
Supreme Court Turns Down Alex Jones' Request
In this Sept. 5, 2018, file photo Alex Jones speaks outside of the Dirksen building of Capitol Hill in Washington.   (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana, File)

The US Supreme Court on Monday declined to hear an appeal by Infowars host and conspiracy theorist Alex Jones, who was fighting a Connecticut court sanction in a defamation lawsuit brought by relatives of some of the victims of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting, the AP reports. Jones was penalized in 2019 by a trial court judge for an angry outburst on his web show against an attorney for the relatives and for violating numerous orders to turn over documents to the families' lawyers. Judge Barbara Bellis barred Jones from filing a motion to dismiss the case, which remains pending, and said she would order Jones to pay some of the families' legal fees. Jones argued he should not have been sanctioned for exercising his free speech rights. The Connecticut Supreme Court upheld Bellis' ruling last year.

The families and an FBI agent who responded to the shooting, which left 20 first-graders and six educators dead, are suing Jones and his show over claims that the massacre was a hoax. The families said they have been subjected to harassment and death threats from Jones’ followers because of the hoax conspiracy. Jones, whose show is based in Austin, Texas, has since said he believes the shooting occurred. The US Supreme Court turned down Jones' request to hear his appeal without comment. Jones' attorney, Norman Pattis, called the court's decision “a disappointment," while Joshua Koskoff, a lawyer for the Sandy Hook families, said Jones deserved to be sanctioned for his threatening comments on his show, which included comments like "one million dollars to put your head on a pike" directed at an attorney for the families.

(More Alex Jones stories.)

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