[{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org\/","@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.dsslaw.com\/blog\/father-of-sandy-hook-victim-wins-450000-from-defamation-lawsuit\/#Article","mainEntityOfPage":"https:\/\/www.dsslaw.com\/blog\/father-of-sandy-hook-victim-wins-450000-from-defamation-lawsuit\/","headline":"Father of Sandy Hook Victim wins $450,000 from Defamation Lawsuit","name":"Father of Sandy Hook Victim wins $450,000 from Defamation Lawsuit","description":"The 2012 mass-shooting\u00a0that took place at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut was an undeniable tragedy. A mentally disturbed young man named Adam Lanza, shot and killed 20 children and six adult staff members. To make matters worse, families of the victims were not only forced to cope with...","datePublished":"2019-11-04","dateModified":"2020-01-29","author":{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.dsslaw.com\/blog\/author\/dsslaw\/#Person","name":"Davis, Saperstein & Salomon, P.C.","url":"https:\/\/www.dsslaw.com\/blog\/author\/dsslaw\/","identifier":12,"image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/645d493126a7be6f90be911a6e7d4382c0cd63874673097832081394c8bcf8ab?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/645d493126a7be6f90be911a6e7d4382c0cd63874673097832081394c8bcf8ab?s=96&d=mm&r=g","height":96,"width":96}},"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Davis, Saperstein & Salomon, P.C.","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/www.dsslaw.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/bg-logo.jpg","url":"https:\/\/www.dsslaw.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/bg-logo.jpg","width":192,"height":90}},"image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/www.dsslaw.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/Davis-Saperstein-and-Salomon.jpg","url":"https:\/\/www.dsslaw.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/Davis-Saperstein-and-Salomon.jpg","height":"100","width":"100"},"url":"https:\/\/www.dsslaw.com\/blog\/father-of-sandy-hook-victim-wins-450000-from-defamation-lawsuit\/","about":["Community","Uncategorized"],"wordCount":598,"articleBody":"The 2012 mass-shooting\u00a0that took place at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut was an undeniable tragedy. A mentally disturbed young man named Adam Lanza, shot and killed 20 children and six adult staff members. To make matters worse, families of the victims were not only forced to cope with grief, but were then subjected to harassment by conspiracy theorists who claimed the tragedy never happened.\u00a0Leonard Pozner, father of 6-year-old victim Noah Pozner, was mentioned in a 2016 book titled \u201cNobody Died at Sandy Hook\u201d. The authors of the book, James Fetzer and Mike Palacek, are conspiracy theorists who published numerous false statements about Pozner. Some of their claims include that Pozner forged his own son\u2019s death certificate, Noah never existed, the shooting was just a FEMA drill, and it was all staged in order to get the Second Amendment repealed. They believe that parents of the victims were crisis actors and the Obama Administration orchestrated the event to promote gun control.\u00a0Pozner decided to take legal action via a SLAAP suit, or a strategic lawsuit against public participation. This type of suit is designed to silence critics by overwhelming them with the cost of a legal defense until they stop their opposition. This past June, Fetzer\u2019s statements in his book were deemed defamatory in nature, which brought the case to trial so damages could be determined. This October, a Wisconsin jury came to the decision of awarding Pozner $450,000 for his emotional distress, which was intentionally inflicted upon him by Fetzer. Fetzer is solely responsible for paying the damages because Palacek and his parent company already settled with Pozner, and that case was dismissed.\u00a0This is a victory for Pozner, his family, and other families who lost someone during the Sandy Hook shooting. Many family members of victims have been defending the existence of their loved ones for over seven years because of conspiracy theorists. Alex Jones, owner of far-right website InfoWars, is also facing multiple lawsuits for similar reasons, including one from Pozner.\u00a0Jones and his staff published many false articles denying Sandy Hook which then caused his followers to partake in a harassment campaign against victim\u2019s parents. One woman from Florida even called Pozner and told him that death was coming for him. Moreover, the lawsuits against Jones will most likely make their way to the Supreme Court, but there is a long road ahead. Concerns over First Amendment freedoms complicate these suits, but hurdles in the litigation process have already been overcome by the plaintiffs.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0In New Jersey, the statute of limitations to file a defamation suit is one year from when the defamatory statement was made. Defamation lawsuits concern the damaging of someone\u2019s reputation with oral or written false statements. Slander is used to define oral false statements and libel describes false written statements. Truth is the absolute defense to a libel or slander claim because falsity of the statement must be proven in a defamation suit. The burden of proof falls on the plaintiff since he or she is the one who was allegedly defamed. About the AuthorLatest PostsDavis, Saperstein & Salomon, P.C.Since 1981, the compassionate personal injury lawyers at Davis, Saperstein & Salomon have been delivering results for our deserving clients. We are solely committed to helping injured individuals, never representing corporations.\u00a0No matter how large or small your personal injury case is, you can trust that it is important to us.NYC Construction Accident - The Dangers of Jobsite Falls and Workers' RightsSteven Benvenisti Advocates for HALT Drunk Driving LawDavis, Saperstein & Salomon, P.C. Named #1 Law Firm"},{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org\/","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Blog","item":"https:\/\/www.dsslaw.com\/blog\/#breadcrumbitem"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Father of Sandy Hook Victim wins $450,000 from Defamation Lawsuit","item":"https:\/\/www.dsslaw.com\/blog\/father-of-sandy-hook-victim-wins-450000-from-defamation-lawsuit\/#breadcrumbitem"}]}]