I think you're right, had his conduct been better then his outcome would also likely have been much better. That said, I still think the amount is ludicrous and unjustifiable. Even if he had had actively encouraged his followers to burn down the homes and beat up the vehicles of every sandy hook parent the damages wouldn't have reached anywhere near a tenth of the amount he was fine. And as it happens, he didn't do that. He caused emotional damage, and had a tertiary effect of some of his followers acting on their own in a deranged way, but 1 billion just is insane.

The courts are structured to be adversarial, so if I claim you owe me $1 million because of something you said, it is expected that you will vigorously defend yourself and through this process some compromise will be reached that will be more or less "just".

If the defendant fucks around instead of actually mounting a defence, of course the result is going to be a massive win for the plaintiffs. Do you expect the judge to step in and represent the interests of the defendant when the defendant seems uninterested in doing so himself? Alex had the money, connections, and profile to get a very good legal defence. He chose not to. I'm not really sure what you want the courts to do here.

Juries don't make good decisions about damages. This value will be down-adjusted significantly- I would expect it to be more like $50M eventually. Something that could be garnished in a finite time.

> if Alex had taken the lawsuit seriously and treated it with the gravitas most people would assign to a lawsuit like this, the judgement would be nowhere near $1B

What do you think it would have been?

I don't mind the "asshole tax" in courts, but I feel like it should be limited. The guy is an idiot, but all the more reason to judge him fairly.

$1B fine looks like a political decision (especially to his audience), and will probably give even more power to him.

>> Do you truly think Alex Jones's speech inflicted a billion dollars worth of damage?

> I urge you to read up on Alex's conduct before, during, and after the trial(s).

Solid point. Fairness and objective inquiries into damages be damned, if you don't kiss the ring, you deserve the worst.

"Hacker" News endorsing outrageous punishments for not bending over far enough. I, too, recall the portion of the Hacker Manifesto, which read:

  We are loyal subjects of the system, and we shall abide by 
  every rule of decorum which the King hath proclaimed. God 
  praise our rulers, who are wiser than all of us!

I believe it was RMS himself who said:

  We seek neither freedom, nor fairness. If someone wearing 
  black robes decrees something, you must bow down and 
  kiss their feet. It is thus written by St. Ignucious. Amen.

And from the notes of the MIT Tech Model Railroad Club:

  Irreverence for Institute Authorities shall not be permitted.
  They are our betters, and we shall exclude anyone whosoever 
  shall trespass against their Virtuous Rules.

"Hacker" News is truly a blessed community. Thank you for the reminder that real "Hackers" are those who lick the boots of those who rule us, and that insufficiently enthusiastic licking is adequate justification for being destroyed.

Hack The Planet*!

[*: Provided the hacking is done in accordance with the dictates of our betters.]