LAL #080 — Norm Talks the Jones Verdict, Being Cancelled from Radio

$965 million.  That's before attorneys fees. That's before punitive damages.  The Connecticut jury in the second of three lawsuits against Alex Jones in connection with his alleged defamatory statements concerning the victims of the Sandy Hook tragedy awarded the plaintiffs a record-breaking sum of nearly one billion dollars.  Hot off a grueling six weeks of trial, Norm dusts off his mic and takes Mike through the details of what will go down as the beginning of one of the most historic moments in American free speech jurisprudence.  If one were to let the internet decide, Alex is getting exactly what he deserves.  But what does that even mean? Veteran listeners of LAL understand our preoccupation with the theme of legitimacy as seen through the lens of the American legal system and the culture from which it is evermore downstream.  In a way, the absurd size of the jury award serves as perhaps the best contrast between the bedrock theory of justice—due process via legal findings on the merits of a case or controversy—and the contrived version of justice being served up to the masses at the incomprehensible expense of Alex Jones.  Mike takes particular interest in the procedural posture of the Jones case in an effort to have Norm illustrate for listeners how impossible of a scenario in which Jones and his legal team were intertwined.  What is a default judgment? What is the standard for the entry of a default judgment in general terms? How did such impact Jones' ability to defend against the claims of defamation and intentional infliction of emotional distress? This is perhaps the most important episode of LAL to date.  It is also our formal notice to each of you that Norm is no longer the host of his daily two-hour segment on Connecticut radio. As Norm discusses toward the end of this episode, the uppers at the radio station decided that in the wake of the Jones verdict that the station was ill-equipped to handle controversy.  Fear not. LAL will begin livestreaming this week. And as the appellate process begins, so, too, does LAL's journey toward real cultural impact. Find us. Share us. Rate us. Share us again. And then do it again. Stay tuned for the debut of LAL's daily show.