"Jones and his legal team submitted a writ of certiorari to the high court last week, arguing that his past defamatory statements were mere "reporting" on the school shooting, in which a gunman killed 20 schoolchildren and six adults. The event, Jones wrote in his filing, was "the subject of reporting and debate" and was discussed by "scores of journalists worldwide," including himself."
"Jones also claimed that, were the Supreme Court to decide against hearing his case, it would mean that "all journalists will realize that they could be found liable for huge defamation awards, especially in ideologically divergent geographic regions...and therefore [will] refrain from publishing for fear of being hauled into court" to face a "trial by sanction" in which the First Amendment is superfluous."
The U.S. Supreme Court rejected Alex Jones’s request to appeal a $1.4 billion judgment stemming from defamation lawsuits by Sandy Hook victims’ family members. Jones argued his prior statements were "reporting" and characterized the Sandy Hook shooting as subject to reporting and debate. He warned that denying review would chill journalism nationwide and portrayed his sanctions as a "financial death penalty by fiat," claiming quoted words were taken out of context. Jones also raised concerns about his InfoWars site possibly being sold to satisfy judgments. The underlying shooting killed 20 schoolchildren and six adults in 2012.
Read at Truthout
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