Texas Court Lowers Sandy Hook Damages for Jones

A Texas appeals court unanimously reduced Alex Jones’s punitive damages in the Sandy Hook case from about $50 million to $1.5 million, allocating $750,000 per parent and keeping roughly $4.1 million in compensatory damages in Texas for a total of about $5.6 million. The court said the post-trial amendment allowing damages to exceed the cap abused the discretion and that the harassment evidence did not justify exceeding the cap. The ruling affects only the Texas judgment; Jones still owes about $1.25 billion (some coverage has pegged it at about $1.4 billion) in Connecticut from a separate case. Jones is in bankruptcy proceedings and intends to appeal to the Texas Supreme Court. He framed the decision as a First Amendment victory. Families emphasized that money does not compensate for the harm, while noting ongoing multi-jurisdictional battles over damages.