Kathmandu— A Texas court on Friday reduced a $50 million judgment against Alex Jones, founder of Infowars, to approximately $6 million due to state laws limiting lawsuit damages. Jones had been ordered to pay families of victims of the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre after being found liable for defaming them with false claims that the shooting was a hoax. The ruling does not impact a separate $1.25 billion judgment against him in Connecticut, and comes as Jones faces bankruptcy proceedings following years of promoting conspiracy theories on his platform.

Financial Penalties Reduced

The Texas Third Court of Appeals ruled unanimously that while the trial court’s finding of defamation stood, the punitive damages awarded to Neil Heslin and Scarlett Lewis needed to be adjusted. The court upheld over $4.1 million in compensatory damages but slashed more than $45 million in punitive damages down to $1.5 million, complying with a state cap of $750,000 per plaintiff. The court determined the parents did not provide sufficient evidence that harassment following Jones’ claims reached a level justifying exceeding the damage cap.

Jones Claims Victory, Plans Further Appeals

Despite the reduction in damages, Alex Jones hailed Friday's ruling as “a gigantic victory for the First Amendment.” He stated his intention to continue appealing the case to the state Supreme Court in an attempt to eliminate the remaining financial obligations. “I got lawyers who are good constitutional lawyers and they are not backing down,” Jones said. He previously attempted to appeal the Connecticut judgment to the U.S. Supreme Court, but that effort was unsuccessful last year.

Families Remain Focused on Full Compensation

Mark Bankston, an attorney representing Heslin and Lewis in the Texas lawsuit, dismissed the appeals court ruling as “irrelevant,” emphasizing that Jones still faces over $1 billion in liability from the Connecticut judgment. “The families care not at all about this irrelevant ruling which affects only two of the 19 claims they all share,” Bankston said. “Jones still faces over a billion dollars of liability, so this changes absolutely nothing.” Christopher Mattei, a lawyer for the Sandy Hook families in the Connecticut lawsuit, added that the Texas ruling has no bearing on ongoing lower court proceedings regarding the liquidation of Infowars’ parent company.

Infowars Assets and Satirical Intervention

The financial verdicts against Jones and his company, Free Speech Systems, have forced him into bankruptcy. Some of his personal property has been put up for auction, and he recently moved his Infowars broadcasts to new websites and streaming platforms. In a unique turn, the satirical website The Onion won an auction for the assets of Infowars’ parent company with the intention of turning it into parody sites, but that result was overturned by a federal judge due to procedural issues. The proposed licensing deal remains on hold pending ongoing appeals.

Jones and his company continue to navigate bankruptcy proceedings while simultaneously pursuing further legal challenges to the judgments against him. The Sandy Hook families are still working to recover funds from Jones, with liquidation proceedings in Texas continuing alongside the larger financial judgment in Connecticut.

(With inputs from AP)

Originally published on abcnews.com.np.