The U.S. Supreme Court has rejected an appeal from Infowars founder and media personality Alex Jones, who sought to overturn a $1.4 billion defamation judgment over his claim that the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting was a hoax. The Court’s order, issued on October 14, 2025, came without written comment and ends Jones’s final attempt to challenge the Connecticut rulings that found him and his company, Free Speech Systems, liable for defamation and emotional distress. The decision allows one of the largest defamation judgments in U.S. history to stand, clearing the way for the families to continue enforcement through state and bankruptcy proceedings.

The case originated from Jones’s repeated claims on his Infowars program that the 2012 mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, had been staged. He alleged that grieving parents and survivors were “crisis actors” and that the attack was part of a government conspiracy to promote gun control. These false statements spread widely online and led to years of harassment and threats against the families, who later sued Jones for defamation and emotional distress.

Connecticut Superior Court Judge Barbara Bellis entered a default judgment against Jones in 2021 after finding that he had repeatedly failed to comply with discovery orders and produce evidence required during litigation. The ruling meant that the jury would decide only the amount of damages, not whether Jones was liable.

In 2022, a Connecticut jury awarded the families and an FBI agent more than one billion dollars in compensatory damages. Judge Bellis later added $473 million in punitive damages, bringing the total to about $1.44 billion. The Connecticut Appellate Court upheld the decision but reduced the punitive portion to $323 million, leaving the overall judgment at roughly $1.4 billion.

Jones’s legal team appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court, arguing that the Connecticut proceedings violated his constitutional rights to free speech and due process. They claimed that the default judgment punished him for speech on matters of public concern and that the damages were excessive. His petition described the judgment as the largest defamation award in American history and asserted that the families had no realistic means of collecting the full amount.

The Supreme Court declined to hear the appeal on October 14, 2025, issuing a one-sentence order without written explanation. The decision leaves the Connecticut judgment intact and allows the families to continue efforts to enforce the verdict through state and bankruptcy courts.

Jones addressed the ruling during his Infowars broadcast that same day, telling his audience that he had expected the Court’s denial. He called the decision political and claimed that judges now have too much authority in defamation cases. “Judges are now king,” Jones said. He also told viewers that his studio and equipment are worth about $304,000 and encouraged them to purchase Infowars merchandise to help keep the program running.

Jones filed for bankruptcy in late 2022 after losing defamation trials in both Connecticut and Texas. A federal bankruptcy court later ruled that the Sandy Hook judgment cannot be discharged, leaving him personally responsible for the debt. Free Speech Systems, his media company, is also in liquidation under the supervision of a state court in Texas, where a receiver has been appointed to oversee the sale of assets. Some of Jones’s personal property is being sold as part of those proceedings.

In 2024, a court-approved auction briefly named the satirical outlet The Onion as the winning bidder for Infowars’ assets, but the bankruptcy judge voided the sale due to procedural issues. The liquidation continues in Texas as Jones appeals a related court order authorizing the sale.

Jones is also appealing a $49 million defamation judgment in Texas that arose from similar claims made about another Sandy Hook family. He faces two additional defamation suits that have not yet gone to trial.