Judge Napolitano on Free Speech and the Alex Jones case

[Foxfyre]

Wrong. It has been explained ad nauseum in this thread that yelling fire in a theatre is totally legal and is protected speech. The old "fire in a theatre" thing is from 100 years ago, has since been overturned and debunked.

I disagree. Any malicious or intentionally dishonest speech that directly causes harm/injury to others is not protected free speech, i.e. creating a panic or inciting to riot.

That is not anything close to what Alex Jones did though.

 

[Foxfyre]

Yes
Yes
Yes
and Yes. Any more questions?

I would love to see any proof or even rationale supporting your opinion.

 

[Winston]

I would love to see any proof or even rationale supporting your opinion.

The trial featured tearful testimony from parents and siblings of the victims, who told about how they were threatened and harassed for years by people who believed the lies told on Jones' show.

Strangers showed up at their homes to record them. People hurled abusive comments on social media. Erica Lafferty, the daughter of slain Sandy Hook principal Dawn Hochsprung, testified that people mailed rape threats to her house. Mark Barden told of how conspiracy theorists had urinated on the grave of his 7-year-old son, Daniel, and threatened to dig up the coffin.

Alex Jones ordered to pay nearly $1 billion to Sandy Hook families in Connecticut trial

The Connecticut jury found Jones liable for a total of $965 million, with amounts reaching as high as $120 million for a single person.

www.cbsnews.com

Obviously, you have no business even posting in this thread when you don't even bother to read even basic news articles about the suit, or the other suits. You haven't bothered to listen to a single interview from the parents, or even the FBI agent that was part of the suit. The tenacity of these parents cannot be understated. They are real heroes because I got to admit, were I in their position I would show all of you the real purpose of the second amendment, VENGANCE.

 

[airplanemechanic]

Quit trying to cover a lie with an opinion mask. Jones knew what he said wasn't true, he admitted that during a previous trial.

Alex Jones admits Sandy Hook attack was ’100% real,’ is caught in another lie thanks to his lawyers

So you can't claim an untruth, that you know is untrue, is merely an "opinion". It's ridiculous.

I heard a good interview with a former member of the Inforwars staff. It was about the Muslim community Islamberg in New York state. Jones had sent the team up there to investigate claims of terrorist activities. When the crew got there they interviewed dozens of people, found the community to be quiet, no signs of terrorist activity, and reported back to Jones. Well, those "facts" didn't fit the narrative and Jones rolls with those same terrorist claims.



That is just one incident of the blow back Jones initiated. I mean the man is a menace to society. He needs to be found a home at a Supermax facility. He don't give two shits if the lies he perpetuates spurs someone to attempt to blow up a mosque, initiate a mass shooting, harass parent's that have lost a child, as long as some of them send him some Benjamins. Karma dictates that at some point, someone, is going to put his ass down. Live by the sword, die by the sword kind of thing.

Not true. During trial he said "I now know it was real, but back then I thought it was a false flag and I stand by that."

Quit misquoting him, you lose credibility when you do that. I WATCHED the trial on CourtTV, you didn't.

 

[Winston]

I disagree. Any malicious or intentionally dishonest speech that directly causes harm/injury to others is not protected free speech, i.e. creating a panic or inciting to riot.

That is not anything close to what Alex Jones did though.

Why yes, it is precisely what Jones did. Sure, his primary objective was lining his own pocket, but hey, if people get hurt in the process, so be it. Kind of like another individual named Donald Trump. He knew the whole "stolen election" bullshit was exactly that, "bullshit". And while I believe his primary objective was to overturn the election and remain in his office eating McDonalds and watching FOX news, the fact that he garnished millions of dollars from his ignorant masses sure didn't hurt. And he didn't care who got hurt, Mike Pence swinging from a hastily built gallows, so be it. Capital Police officers impaled with a US flag, acceptable loss.

 

[Winston]

Not true. During trial he said "I now know it was real, but back then I thought it was a false flag and I stand by that."

Quit misquoting him, you lose credibility when you do that. I WATCHED the trial on CourtTV, you didn't.

You watched the Texas trial or the Connecticut trial?

 

[Foxfyre]

Not true. During trial he said "I now know it was real, but back then I thought it was a false flag and I stand by that."

Quit misquoting him, you lose credibility when you do that. I WATCHED the trial on CourtTV, you didn't.

Roughly .03% of Americans visit the Infowars site and/or the podcast in any given month if all of those ARE Americans. Most of those are counted multiple times and/or are people looking for something to use to criticize Alex Jones on message boards or social media. I don't know a single soul who uses Alex Jones as a credible source for much of anything.

The idea that it was him who triggered harassment of anybody on Facebook or anywhere else is just not credible.

 

[Foxfyre]

Why yes, it is precisely what Jones did. Sure, his primary objective was lining his own pocket, but hey, if people get hurt in the process, so be it. Kind of like another individual named Donald Trump. He knew the whole "stolen election" bullshit was exactly that, "bullshit". And while I believe his primary objective was to overturn the election and remain in his office eating McDonalds and watching FOX news, the fact that he garnished millions of dollars from his ignorant masses sure didn't hurt. And he didn't care who got hurt, Mike Pence swinging from a hastily built gallows, so be it. Capital Police officers impaled with a US flag, acceptable loss.

Ah, well. Some people can discuss a topic and stay on topic and some can't.
Do have a pleasant afternoon.

 

[Winco]

Nobody was physically harmed by Jones's ridiculous conspiracy theories.

Nobody was libeled badly enough

As per your ridiculous comments above, I truly wish you had suffered a loss of a child, and NOT just the loss of a child, but THEN some idiot right wing freedom of speech proponent, sat outside your house, and ridiculed the loss of your child with a bullhorn so all your neighbors could see/hear.

Then, that right wing idiot digs up video of you smiling at some previous event (before the death/murder) and proclaims how much of a FAKE you are, and that you're a 'bad actor' and you really didn't lose a child, you and the child are just crisis actors.

Then this same right wing idiot go on national radio or even TV, and calls you a liar.

Then tell me that you are not HURT by the actions and words of a 'freedom of speech' advocate.

Yes, I agree with freedom of speech, you can say anything you want, but you cross a line, there are definite consequences to that free speech and you better be prepared to face those consequences.

 

[Sixties Fan]

show me in the law or statutes where that is illegal?

so far, I have NO evidence he did anything illegal. Smehow I doubt any will be given me.. since none has yet

Have you found out online that it is legal to call something a hoax for 10 years and have your followers harass and make the parents lives a hell, and never saying to your followers to stop doing it, because Alex Jones for sure knew what his followers were doing and never attempted to stop them from continuing to do it.

How many more years would he have continued to spread the hoax, make more money off of it from those who decided that he should be rewarded for telling that hoax. For protecting gun sales in America?

 

[Dragonlady]

it is not kooky to question a govt that is as obviously corrupt and politicized as ours is..

far from it.. (yes, I know, you are not only referring to that part of Jones's spiel.)

Moving the goal posts are we?? Jones didn't just "question the government", he denied reality and built a business and great wealth on doing so. But he radicalized people into believing that the Sandy Hook parents were trying to destroy American so they wert after these families and their surviving children - harassing them and threatening them.

Jones posted their addresses to make it easy for his followers to torture these families. That's terrorism.

 

[Sixties Fan]

You work your side of the fence and I’ll work mine

Jones merely stated an opinion that libs didnt like and they want to silence him for it

Which I call unAmerican

Why do you assume that all of the parents and teachers at that schools were Democrats? Why make it a Party issue?

 

[airplanemechanic]

You watched the Texas trial or the Connecticut trial?

The 965 million dollar trial.

 

[Winston]

The 965 million dollar trial.

So, not the Texas trial where Jones made the admission. Thanks for playing.

 

[Winston]

Moving the goal posts are we?? Jones didn't just "question the government", he denied reality and built a business and great wealth on doing so. But he radicalized people into believing that the Sandy Hook parents were trying to destroy American so they wert after these families and their surviving children - harassing them and threatening them.

Jones posted their addresses to make it easy for his followers to torture these families. That's terrorism.

Like I said, those families are better than me. Had he done that to me I can promise you, I would have stalked his ass down and beat him to an inch of his life and happily call the cops to come pick my ass up when I got done.

 

[Darkwind]

I'm not all that concerned on the final numbers. They will continue to be argued in court.

He lied to hurt people and to profit himself. There is no defending that.

Yet Facebook fact-checkers do so regularly. The Main stream media lie for profit and hurt people on an almost hourly basis.

 

[Slade3200]

so far, no one on this forum can show me where he did anything wrong. I haven't seen any yelling Fire thing...

Check out the court transcripts. A case was made

 

[Leo123]

Moving the goal posts are we?? Jones didn't just "question the government", he denied reality and built a business and great wealth on doing so. But he radicalized people into believing that the Sandy Hook parents were trying to destroy American so they wert after these families and their surviving children - harassing them and threatening them.

Jones posted their addresses to make it easy for his followers to torture these families. That's terrorism.

Jones didn't radicalize anyone. He made an outlandish statement and pissed off parents who lawyered up to punish him and hopefully, for them, get some money. In America we have free speech but we are not free of people retaliating.

 

[Foxfyre]

Jones didn't radicalize anyone. He made an outlandish statement and pissed off parents who lawyered up to punish him and hopefully, for them, get some money. In America we have free speech but we are not free of people retaliating.

Again at most .03% of the American population reads or tunes in to Infowars in any given month and that includes those who visit multiple times and those who go there to pick up something they can use to criticize Alex Jones. To conclude that it was Alex Jones who traumatized Sandy Hook parents just doesn't hold up on the fact of it, most especially now that it's 10 years later. It does smack of opportunistic lawyers finding some leftist parents willing to be their pawns and make mega millions for those lawyers and it is also very lucrative for those few parents should the ruling hold up on appeal.

 

[Care4all]

Yes, that's the basis of libel and slander.

For instance, let's say you lie about me and say that I raped my children or some kind of bad shit like that. As a result, I lost my job or was not hired because of what you said about me. If what you said was a lie, I can go after you for the money I lost because of the lies you told.

But if you lie about me, saying something and I can't prove to a judge that you have cost me money, I'm not owed money.

Court is about making you whole again, not ringing up the $$$ register.

not true, there is PAIN and SUFFERING, as well as financial losses, in suits.

this inhuman Jones caused tremendous pain, day in and day out calling these parents, who buried their 5 year olds, liars and criminals by participating in some sort of govt hoax, to take your guns away, saying they never had a child that they buried... His supporters then stalked these parents, some families had to move for their safety..... And that ain't even, the half of it!