Sandy Hook jury awards will never be enough

Nearly nine years later, there is no closure for those who lost loved ones at Sandy Hook Elementary School. There’s no justice. There’s nothing to make them whole again. There is, thankfully, a measure of punishment for one of the worst people to appear on the public scene in the wake of that tragedy, someone who mocked the families’ loss, denied the tragedy had even happened and, worst of all, sent legions of twisted followers to harass and defame people who were experiencing every parent’s worst nightmare.

Alex Jones, a right-wing conspiracy theorist and founder of Infowars, claimed for years on his radio and internet shows that the Sandy Hook shooting, where 20 students and six adults were killed, was a government hoax and the relatives were actors. It was all a plot to get the government to take away your guns, he argued, or some such nonsense.

Conspiracy theories are nothing new. But there’s something uniquely disgusting about the malicious campaign launched against grieving family members, abetted by Jones, that forced innocent people to defend their loved ones’ very existence. One can have empathy for people with differing viewpoints while also believing that Jones and his followers represent the worst in humanity.

Over the years since the 2012 tragedy, nine Newtown families have sued Jones, who has lost several defamation suits and been ordered to pay tens of thousands of dollars of their legal fees.

More recently, a district judge in Texas issued default judgments against Jones and Infowars after his refusal to provide court-ordered information relating to two of those lawsuits. A third has since won a defamation suit. The lawsuits will now proceed to trial, with the question being how much Jones will have to pay.

“Alex Jones and Infowars no longer have the ability to make excuses or defend their actions,” a lawyer for one of the family members said on Tuesday.

Jones has argued in court documents that he no longer believes the worst crime in Connecticut history was a “hoax,” and that he has a right under the First Amendment to be wrong. But no one is interested in what he believes. What we know is what he has done, which is cause people pain. He will now pay a price for those actions.

And it’s on him that the issue has not yet been settled in court. “[A]n escalating series of judicial admonishments, monetary penalties and non-dispositive sanctions have all been ineffective in deterring the abuse,” a judge wrote in the most recent ruling. Now the case will go to trial, where a jury will determine damages.

There is no amount that will make the families whole or make up for the abuse. But the jury should ensure that Jones has to pay a serious price — both to ensure he never commits such acts again and to deter any potential followers in future cases.

The First Amendment gives people in this country a wide berth to speak their mind. It’s among our most cherished rights. But it is not limitless. Jones’ actions have been clearly beyond its protections and must elicit punishment.

No one is interested in what Alex Jones believes. What we know is what he has done, which is cause people pain. He will now pay a price for those actions.