Right-wing conspiracy theorist Alex Jones is asking the US Supreme Court to review a Connecticut court’s nearly $1.4 billion judgment against him and Infowars stemming from his false claims that the Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre was a hoax.

The default judgment entered against Jones and his Infowars parent company in 2022 after “minor” discovery violations was an unjust and disproportionate penalty, Jones’ lawyers told the justices in a petition filed on Sept. 5 and obtained by Bloomberg Law.

The judgment runs afoul of First Amendment protections established in New York Times v. Sullivan, they said.

“It is an amount that can never be paid, and which based on the trial court’s findings may not be dischargeable in bankruptcy,” they said. “The result is a financial death penalty by fiat imposed on a media defendant whose broadcasts reach millions.”

The filing to the high court is one of Jones’ last avenues to reverse the judgments obtained against him and Infowars’ parent company, Free Speech Systems LLC.

The request comes shortly after a Texas state court appointed a receiver to oversee the media company, a significant breakthrough in efforts for Sandy Hook shooting victims’ families owed more than $1 billion after collection efforts sputtered for years in bankruptcy court. A Texas appeals court paused the receivership order in late August.

Jones and Free Speech Systems’ lawyers told the justices that because the Connecticut court’s sanctions were the result of a default judgment, rather than merit-based, the families never proved his specific claims about the shooting were false or that he made them with “actual malice.”

The justices should review whether state courts can issue such “death penalty” default sanctions brought by “public figures” against media defendants reporting on issues of public concern, Jones’ team said. “Death penalty” sanctions are judicially decreed penalties or liability for all alleged claims due to litigation misconduct, such as discovery abuse.

The justices were also asked to answer whether liability can be imposed on media entities for acts of “unrelated third parties,” and define whether a “serious threat” needs to be shown to award punitive damages based on default sanctions.

Allowing the ruling to stand will chill new reporting and risks hurting other broadcasters, Jones’ lawyers argued.

A six-person Connecticut jury awarded 15 family members and one FBI agent who responded to the attack $965 million in compensatory damages and $471.7 million in other damages. The jury found Jones and Free Speech Systems financially liable for spreading falsehoods about the 2012 shooting, which killed 20 children and six school staffers.

All but $150 million of the award was upheld by a mid-level Connecticut state appeals court. Connecticut’s top court in April denied a request to review.

The families have maintained that Jones’ conduct was intentional and malicious, motivated by profit, and that his alleged concealment and attitude towards discovery supports the award.

Jones and Free Speech Systems have avoided paying the judgments by filing separate Chapter 11 cases in 2022, halting all litigation and debt collection efforts. Jones and his company also face judgments in Texas.

A Houston bankruptcy judge found in 2023 that most of the judgments can’t be discharged in bankruptcy. Free Speech Systems’ bankruptcy was dismissed last year, and Jones’ personal Chapter 11 bankruptcy converted to a Chapter 7 liquidation.

The Houston bankruptcy court last year rejected a trustee’s attempt to sell Infowars’ assets to The Onion, but the satirical news website has shown renewed interest in buying the assets from the receiver.

Jones is represented by Broocks Law Firm PLLC, Jordan & Ortiz PC, and Alan Daughtry Law Firm. The families are represented by Koskoff, Koskoff, & Bieder PC.

The case is Alex Emric Jones, et al. vs. Erica Lafferty, et al., U.S., No. 25A7, petition 9/5/25.

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(With assistance from Ryan Autullo.)

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