This could be an interesting case....
NEWTOWN — Extremist Alex Jones has appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court, arguing that his “blood on the streets” rant against an attorney representing families who lost loved ones in the Sandy Hook shooting was protected free speech.
Norm Pattis, the high-profile New Haven attorney, calls the sanction Jones received in trial court after his 2019 rant an “unprecedented attack on freedom of speech” and a “direct, frontal assault on the First Amendment itself” because what Jones said did not constitute a legal threat.
“(Jones’) views on the judicial process and the conduct of its various participants are core political speech protected by the First Amendment regardless of whether he expresses them with Shakespearean eloquence or with quintessential American vim and vigor,” Pattis wrote in the appeal. “Courts are not above the Constitution. They can transgress on constitutional liberties just as readily as the legislative or executive branches, particularly when they regulate the speech of those subject to their jurisdiction.”
Jones’ appeal to the highest court in the country aims to overturn a decision by state Superior Court Judge Barbara Bellis to deny Jones what he considers a key line of defense in a defamation lawsuit brought against him by an FBI agent and six families who lost loved ones in the 2012 Sandy Hook shooting.
https://www.registercitizen.com/loca...t-15998230.php
Norm Pattis, the high-profile New Haven attorney, calls the sanction Jones received in trial court after his 2019 rant an “unprecedented attack on freedom of speech” and a “direct, frontal assault on the First Amendment itself” because what Jones said did not constitute a legal threat.
“(Jones’) views on the judicial process and the conduct of its various participants are core political speech protected by the First Amendment regardless of whether he expresses them with Shakespearean eloquence or with quintessential American vim and vigor,” Pattis wrote in the appeal. “Courts are not above the Constitution. They can transgress on constitutional liberties just as readily as the legislative or executive branches, particularly when they regulate the speech of those subject to their jurisdiction.”
Jones’ appeal to the highest court in the country aims to overturn a decision by state Superior Court Judge Barbara Bellis to deny Jones what he considers a key line of defense in a defamation lawsuit brought against him by an FBI agent and six families who lost loved ones in the 2012 Sandy Hook shooting.
https://www.registercitizen.com/loca...t-15998230.php
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