Conspiracy theorist Alex Jones cannot use his personal bankruptcy to escape paying at least $1.1 billion in defamation damages stemming from his repeated lies about the 2012 Sandy Hook elementary school massacre, a U.S. bankruptcy judge ruled Thursday.

Conspiracy theorist Alex Jones cannot use his personal bankruptcy to escape paying at least $1.1 billion in defamation damages stemming from his repeated lies about the 2012 Sandy Hook elementary school massacre, a U.S. bankruptcy judge ruled Thursday.

  • Son_of_dad@lemmy.world
    2247·
    11 months ago

    They say this, yet he’s still making and spending to the tune of 100k per month and the courts aren’t doing anything about it. Rich people don’t get to go broke like the rest of us, he’s gonna keep living in a nice house and making millions and get away with not paying anyone, and the courts won’t do shit

    • fiat_lux@kbin.social
      902·
      11 months ago

      This is part of due process in doing something about it. Unfortunately it’s a lot faster to commit crimes and get “creative” with moving money in not-quite-crimes-but-still-bullshit than it is to weigh up their legality and enforce appropriate penalties.

      When a legal system relies heavily on precedent as guidance and technicalities can destroy a decision, and fixing that might take decades and destroy lives, you have to make sure it’s good. Especially when this many people are watching.

      Unfortunately you’re very right that the slow speeds to ensure precision are easily and visibly exploited by scumlickers like Jones.

    • DogMuffins@discuss.tchncs.deEnglish
      33·
      11 months ago

      I can see why you would think this, but this is a very unusual case. Particularly so given the decision in this article.

      You’re dead right in that rich people don’t go broke like the rest of us - because they have accountants and lawyers set up complex business structures so if something falls over they can just walk away (or drive away in their nice car to their nice house).

      This article is pretty much saying that all that usual dance isn’t going to work in this case - he still has to pay $1.1b.

      Also, there’s no law that prevents him from going on making money. That may not feel “right” or just but that dynamic is the same even for poor people. That said, at 100k per month it would take him 916 years to pay $1.1b soo… he might curtail his luxurious lifestyle, maybe not.

  • Skwerls@discuss.tchncs.de
    982·
    11 months ago

    Couldn’t have happened to a more deserving “person”. This isn’t going to bring the kids back but at least it’ll stop people from fucking harassing the parents decades later. Jones is mentally fucked up and he deserves to be locked up.

    • KneeTitts@lemmy.worldEnglish
      382·
      11 months ago

      And yet I believe he still will not pay them a dime… just like if trump loses all his court cases in New York, I really believe he will just refuse to pay and force them to chase him around asking for that money for the rest of his life. Rich people never have to pay fines in the US, its all for show, they always find a way to get around everything.

      • Jax@sh.itjust.works
        152·
        11 months ago

        You are aware that he doesn’t have a choice whether he pays, right?

        Court orders will be issued for his assets. You don’t see rich people paying for their crimes because they get away with it. Successful scumbags don’t put themselves in positions like this.

        • Veneroso@lemmy.world
          9·
          11 months ago

          Yeah but the way he incorporated the business, his parents own most of the business interests, which is going to take a lot to claw back. It’s really insidious.

  • nucleative@lemmy.worldEnglish
    652·
    11 months ago

    That’s… wild.

    Aside from whatever you feel about this guy, he’s fucked. It might take some time but the victims will start to get court orders to seize his assets, which they can then present to banks, police, and other authorities, who will then turn them over directly.

    The USA has it’s fingers in almost every financial network in the world and Alex Jones can no longer be safe anywhere except basically crypto, bad actor countries, and I guess cash in his mattress. For the rest of his life. And he can’t escape it with bankruptcy.

    He’ll be better off trying to get citizenship in Russia or China or something and never coming back.

      • SuperJetShoes@lemmy.world
        221·
        11 months ago

        Yep, good. Look at the damage he did. He’ll have sufficient funds to have food and shelter. Anything beyond that he does not deserve.

        How much divisiveness did he cause?
        How many screaming arguments?
        How many families did he break up?
        How many bar room fights?
        How much pain for grieving parents?

        Fuck him, he’s a cunt.

        • MartinXYZ@sh.itjust.works
          2·
          11 months ago

          He’ll have sufficient funds to have food and shelter. Anything beyond that he does not deserve.

          According to other comments here, referring to OJ’s case, this is not likely to happen.

          • SuperJetShoes@lemmy.world
            2·
            11 months ago

            OK, point taken. He’ll have sufficient funds to live a comfortable life (which is disgraceful for a bankrupt individual). But at least there’s the satisfaction in knowing he won’t get it all.

            Apologies for the misunderstanding. I’m from the UK where it’s tougher to game the bankruptcy laws and you need to lie before court.

            Edit: typos

    • arglebargle@lemm.eeEnglish
      121·
      11 months ago

      You would think he would pay, but look at OJ. Verdict to pay 30 million, and after all these years he only did 130,000.

      Getting assets seized and wages garnished is not as easy as you would think.

      • nucleative@lemmy.worldEnglish
        3·
        11 months ago

        Yeah that’strue. From what little I know OJ is allowed to make/keep enough so that he’s far from destitute, but he sure hasn’t don’t anything redeeming since.

        I guess if you know your work would lead to money that you can’t keep, you’d choose to just not work.

      • Mirshe@lemmy.world
        264·
        11 months ago

        Think of the lowest point you can imagine and still have a functioning society. Realize there’s at least a solid third that want to go lower than that.

    • singron@lemmy.worldEnglish
      91·
      11 months ago

      Debtors prisons are still illegal and don’t exist in the US. It’s all explained in the article, but the issue is really that poor people have bad legal representation, local judges aren’t all great, and private debt collection is out of control.

      In the US, your creditors should generally only be able to garnish your wages up to legal maximums. You can’t get prison sentences in civil trials.

      Arrests are a last-resort way for a court to force someone to appear. The other jail time is basically contempt of court for failing to comply with court orders. These should probably exist in general, but they are likely misapplied for the above reasons in these cases.

      Write to you representatives about the above stuff, not debtors prisons, since they won’t know what you are talking about.

  • SammyV2@startrek.website
    222·
    11 months ago

    I was once told by a wise man, “Jar-jar Binks has a Caribbean, black accent”.

    This is what the “loser little, lil titty baby” deserves. Only a shame it’s arriving so late.

    • PoliticalAgitator@lemm.ee
      81·
      11 months ago

      I think it’s extremely unlikely he’ll earn a billion dollars before he drops dead of an aneurysm in the middle of a far right screed.

      It’s a thousand million dollars and it’s been years since they needed him to funnel unmedicated schizophrenics into political extremism.

      • merthyr1831@lemmy.world
        1·
        11 months ago

        Yeah I know the number is kinda for show. It’s more to keep him laying indefinitely. Only question is how he even pays the fraction he’ll be able to pay in his lifetime.

  • downpunxx@kbin.social
    143·
    11 months ago

    Nothing matters until they find him guilty of contempt of court in not paying his judgements, everything else is just wasting time

    • orcrist@lemm.ee
      6·
      11 months ago

      Well no. It’s the step after that, when they actually seize his assets, that’s when you finally got to the point where things change.