3 ms·

I don't see how a company can inflict $25 million in damages per person. Damages for wrongful death usually don't even go this high.

tptacek 4y ago
People seemed to have no problem with the idea that Oberlin could have inflicted $36MM against a family. I didn't either! That's how tort damages work.
- scarab92 4y ago
  The Oberlin case had damages of $25 million, not $36 million, and that was the combined award to number of individuals plus a company that suffered a significant loss of revenue. Apples vs Oranges.
  - tptacek 4y ago
    I don't agree. But if you'd like another example: Hulk Hogan got $115MM personally from Gawker, over a sex tape.
    - greyhair 4y ago
      If I could get $115M for a sex tape, I'd be making one every week.
    - tejohnso 4y ago
      Apples & oranges again? Hogan is a public figure who might actually lose out on a hundred mil due to reputation damage. A average middle class USA family, not so much. Anyway if it isn't punitive shouldn't there be some kind of account for how the number was arrived at? I don't see it in the article.
9935c101ab17a66 4y ago
Well, to be frank, it doesn't matter. Some people probably think any kind of damages for defamation are ridiculous. Others probably think this wasn't enough. It doesn't matter though, because you weren't selected to serve on the jury at the trial. You didn't see the evidence, you didn't get to observe jones' conduct, you didn't sit through days and days of testimony about how horrible and traumatic it was for the families of sandy hook to lose their children and then be called 'crisis actors' by Alex Jones repeatedly. His followers were literally harassing the parents in public. These damages may be above average and the highest ever in a defamation trial, but Alex Jones really took being a defamatory piece of shit to a new level.

3 ms·

I don't see how a company can inflict $25 million in damages per person. Damages for wrongful death usually don't even go this high.

by scarab92 4y ago

tptacek 4y ago
People seemed to have no problem with the idea that Oberlin could have inflicted $36MM against a family. I didn't either! That's how tort damages work.
- scarab92 4y ago
  The Oberlin case had damages of $25 million, not $36 million, and that was the combined award to number of individuals plus a company that suffered a significant loss of revenue. Apples vs Oranges.
  - tptacek 4y ago
    I don't agree. But if you'd like another example: Hulk Hogan got $115MM personally from Gawker, over a sex tape.
    - greyhair 4y ago
      If I could get $115M for a sex tape, I'd be making one every week.
    - tejohnso 4y ago
      Apples & oranges again? Hogan is a public figure who might actually lose out on a hundred mil due to reputation damage. A average middle class USA family, not so much. Anyway if it isn't punitive shouldn't there be some kind of account for how the number was arrived at? I don't see it in the article.
9935c101ab17a66 4y ago
Well, to be frank, it doesn't matter. Some people probably think any kind of damages for defamation are ridiculous. Others probably think this wasn't enough. It doesn't matter though, because you weren't selected to serve on the jury at the trial. You didn't see the evidence, you didn't get to observe jones' conduct, you didn't sit through days and days of testimony about how horrible and traumatic it was for the families of sandy hook to lose their children and then be called 'crisis actors' by Alex Jones repeatedly. His followers were literally harassing the parents in public. These damages may be above average and the highest ever in a defamation trial, but Alex Jones really took being a defamatory piece of shit to a new level.