hook families

Sandy Hook Families Say Alex Jones Cannot Hide Behind Bankruptcy

Lawyers for the Sandy Hook families who won historic defamation damages against the Infowars conspiracy theorist Alex Jones told a federal bankruptcy judge in Houston on Tuesday that Mr. Jones should not be allowed to use his Chapter 11 filing to evade $1 billion-plus verdicts made against him.

The families asked that the judge, Christopher Lopez, order Mr. Jones to pay them the full damage awards, with no possibility of a trial or a forced settlement over a lesser amount — in legal terminology, to make Mr. Jones’s debts to the families “non-dischargeable” through bankruptcy. If the judge rules in the families’ favor, Mr. Jones would likely be working the rest of his life to pay the debt.

Mr. Jones spent years spreading lies that the 2012 shooting that killed 20 first graders and six educators at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., was a hoax aimed at gun control. Families of 10 victims sued him for defamation, and in trials in Texas and Connecticut were awarded about $1.4 billion in damages. As the cases went to trial, Infowars declared bankruptcy, and Mr. Jones declared personal bankruptcy late last year.

The families have been fighting him in bankruptcy court

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Alex Jones would get $520,000 salary in bankruptcy plan after $1.5 billion lawsuit

Alex Jones’ media company has proposed a plan in its bankruptcy case to pay the conspiracy theorist $520,000 a year while leaving $7 million to $10 million annually to pay off creditors, including relatives of Sandy Hook shooting victims.

The Sandy Hook families won nearly $1.5 billion in lawsuits last year against the Infowars host, for his calling the 2012 shooting that killed 20 children and six educators in Newtown, Connecticut, a hoax perpetrated by crisis actors. The families also said they were harassed and threatened by Jones’ followers.

But it remains unclear how much money the Sandy Hook families will actually get from Jones and Infowars’ parent company, Free Speech Systems. Jones is appealing the verdicts and has said on his show that he has $2 million or less to his name.

Free Speech Systems, owned solely by Jones, filed a proposed reorganization plan Tuesday in its Chapter 11 bankruptcy case in Houston that predicts it will have $7 million to $10 million annually after expenses to pay creditors from 2023 to 2027. The judge in the case, which was filed last year, would determine who gets that money and how much.

A bankruptcy lawyer for Jones did not

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Alex Jones would get $520,000 salary under bankruptcy plan

Alex Jones’ media company has proposed a plan in its bankruptcy case to pay the conspiracy theorist $520,000 a year while leaving $7 million to $10 million annually to pay off creditors, including relatives of Sandy Hook shooting victims.

The Sandy Hook families won nearly $1.5 billion in lawsuits last year against the Infowars host, for his calling the 2012 shooting that killed 20 children and six educators in Newtown, Connecticut, a hoax perpetrated by crisis actors. The families also said they were harassed and threatened by Jones’ followers.

But it remains unclear how much money the Sandy Hook families will actually get from Jones and Infowars’ parent company, Free Speech Systems. Jones is appealing the verdicts and has said on his show that he has $2 million or less to his name.

Free Speech Systems, owned solely by Jones, filed a proposed reorganization plan Tuesday in its Chapter 11 bankruptcy case in Houston that predicts it will have $7 million to $10 million annually after expenses to pay creditors from 2023 to 2027. The judge in the case, which was filed last year, would determine who gets that money and how much.

A bankruptcy lawyer for Jones did not

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Alex Jones attorney suspended from practicing law in Connecticut

A lawyer for conspiracy theorist Alex Jones has been suspended from practicing law in Connecticut for six months for improperly giving other Jones’ attorneys in Texas confidential documents, including the medical records of relatives of victims of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting.

The ruling by Judge Barbara Bellis on Thursday afternoon came in the families’ lawsuit against Jones for repeatedly calling the shooting a hoax on his Infowars show, which resulted in Jones being ordered to pay more than $1.4 billion in damages after a jury trial in Connecticut last year.

Bellis said New Haven-based lawyer Norm Pattis failed to safeguard the families’ sensitive records in violation of her order that limited access to the documents to attorneys in the Connecticut case. She called his actions an “abject failure” and “inexcusable.”

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“We cannot expect our system of justice or our attorneys to be perfect, but we can expect fundamental fairness and decency,” the judge wrote. “There was no fairness or decency in the treatment of the plaintiffs’ most sensitive and personal information, and no excuse for the respondent’s (Pattis’) misconduct.”

Pattis said Friday in a text message that he

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Alex Jones lawyer suspended 6 months over records release

HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) — A lawyer for conspiracy theorist Alex Jones has been suspended from practicing law in Connecticut for six months for improperly giving Jones’ other attorneys in Texas confidential documents, including the medical records of relatives of victims of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting.

The ruling by Judge Barbara Bellis on Thursday afternoon came in the families’ lawsuit against Jones for repeatedly calling the shooting a hoax on his Infowars show, which resulted in Jones being ordered to pay more than $1.4 billion in damages after a jury trial in Connecticut last year.

Bellis said New Haven-based lawyer Norm Pattis failed to safeguard the families’ sensitive records in violation of her order that limited access to the documents to attorneys in the Connecticut case. She called his actions an “abject failure” and “inexcusable.”

“We cannot expect our system of justice or our attorneys to be perfect, but we can expect fundamental fairness and decency,” the judge wrote. “There was no fairness or decency in the treatment of the plaintiffs’ most sensitive and personal information, and no excuse for the respondent’s (Pattis’) misconduct.”

Pattis said Friday in a text message that he plans to appeal the discipline and

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