This was a cardinal error and utterly unnecessary as, in a motion to dismiss, the judicial mind assumes that discovery will show that the plaintiffs' allegations are supported. When the plaintiffs' attorneys claimed that they found child pornography among the digitized documents that Jones' attorneys had sent them, Jones accused the plaintiffs' attorneys of planting it.
The court was so outraged, not at the presence of child pornography, but at Jones' allegations about the plaintiffs' lawyers, that it summarily denied Jones' motion to dismiss by ignoring the teaching of Brandenburg, and doing George Orwell one better, by characterizing Jones' opinions as "non-opinions."
When Jones declined to supply more discovery than he actually had, this same judge ruled as a matter of law that Jones' non-opinions had harmed the plaintiffs, and the only issues remaining in the cases addressed the amount of damages Jones owed them. In a tendentious opinion, more conclusory than reasoned, the Supreme Court of Connecticut agreed.
Thus, Jones' two recent trials addressed his wealth, not his liability. He was ordered to pay more than $1 billion. This is a profound injustice to Alex Jones and to all who are engaged in the opinion business and it begs for a reversal.
If the First Amendment means what it says, if no government can abridge the freedom of speech, if the 14th Amendment means what it says, and the states may not take anyone's life, liberty, or property, without due process, if due process means a fair ruling on the merits, then Alex Jones has not had his day in court, and the courts in Connecticut, where his judicial demonization was met with public approval, have emasculated his basic constitutional rights.
In all other states, expressions of opinions on matters of public interest are absolutely protected as natural rights, and viewed as a means of challenging those discussing all sides of public issues. Only in Connecticut has a court system, summarily without a trial, and in defiance of precedent, declared an opinion to be a non-opinion, thereby stripping a litigant of his natural and constitutionally-guaranteed rights.
For those who value freedom, this is a time to recall Voltaire: "I disagree with what you say but will defend to the death your right to say it".
Alex Jones has the largest viewership in the podcast world - larger than the television networks. Now we know what government does to silence its most effective critic.
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