• fmstrat@lemmy.nowsci.com
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    19 hours ago

    Lopez cited problems — but no wrongdoing — with the auction process

    “You got to scratch and claw and get everything you can for them,” Lopez said.

    The victims gave up 750K because they wanted The Onion to have it. Lopez has had some good rulings in the past, this is not one of them.

    If there were problems with the auction, fine, but don’t pretend this decision was to benefit the victims.

    • Optional@lemmy.world
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      18 hours ago

      Did Lopez get a little promise from the new oligarchy overlords as to his legal career?

      SpinfoWars says YES

  • Flying Squid@lemmy.world
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    21 hours ago

    “We can celebrate the judge doing the right thing with the most ridiculous, fraudulent auction known in human history,” he said.

    They used to literally auction human beings, you utter waste of carbon.

  • NoForwardslashS@sopuli.xyz
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    22 hours ago

    You know what would make the auction process more transparent? Don’t make it a blind auction.

    On a different note, is there a Gofundme up for The Onion to make sure they win the next auction yet?

      • NoForwardslashS@sopuli.xyz
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        20 hours ago

        While that’s a horrible thought, but pushing the price tag up only helps the Sandy Hook victims. Adding the InfoWars brand to his catalogue doesn’t really expand his reach any further than X.

        It’s kind of a nice thought that he would effectively be paying some of the remuneration.

        • atzanteol@sh.itjust.works
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          18 hours ago

          Adding the InfoWars brand to his catalogue doesn’t really expand his reach any further than X.

          I just worry that he’ll see this as some sort of “free speech crusade” and integrate infowars into X or something. Just for the grift and because he has enough money that nobody tells him “no” anymore.

          But as somebody else pointed out it’s unlikely to go to auction again - so hopefully it’s resolved to the families’ favor.

      • PuppyAttack@lemmus.org
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        19 hours ago

        Lopez cited problems — but no wrongdoing — with the auction process. He said he did not want another auction and left it up to the trustee who oversaw the auction to determine the next steps.

        I would be surprised if the auction was restarted. The “problems” cited seem to be that the judge just wanted the families to get more money and to minimize the chance of a lawsuit from the losers messing with them. Even though this is the bid that would get the families more money, I think everyone was surprised at how low the bids were. And the more complicated nature of the bid makes it more likely that a lawsuit could hold things up. If The Onion’s side can add a couple million more so that it’s the highest bid outright as well as getting the families a little more, I think the judge would approve it.

        • atzanteol@sh.itjust.works
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          18 hours ago

          I think that’s good - the more attention this whole thing gets the more it will attract the attention of grifters like Musk (he’s already been poking his nose in where it doesn’t belong)…

          The families seem to realize they’re getting a “fuck ton of money” regardless and are more interested in punishing Jones personally - which is perfectly understandable even if it’s not the “point” of this process. I hope the onion can match at least and give these folks not only the money they deserve but the small amount of comeuppance to Jones he deserves.

    • Rykzon@discuss.tchncs.de
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      22 hours ago

      Too late now that this got media awareness, if you believe a GoFundMe is going to raise more than some right-wing media outlet I have a bridge to sell

      • villainy@lemmy.world
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        20 hours ago

        I don’t understand why this matters. The families knowingly accepted the lower bid so The Onion could try and do some good with the brand. It seems like, at the point where it’s being auctioned off with all proceeds going to the families, InfoWars should effectively be theirs to do with as they please.

      • tburkhol@lemmy.world
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        19 hours ago

        Read further. There are two judgements against Jones: one for ~$50M and one for ~$1B. In a normal bankruptcy resolution, the 8 families of the $1B judgement will get 95% of the proceeds, while the 2 families of $50M get 5%. “Sandy Hook families forgoing $750,000” means that those 8 families are effectively giving $750k of their millions to the 2 families, resulting in a more even distribution of compensation across the whole group.

      • NoForwardslashS@sopuli.xyz
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        20 hours ago

        Well my assumption is that the next auction will be won by the highest bidder, so your point isn’t really contradictory.

        • half_fiction@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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          19 hours ago

          The judge did not actually order a new auction, just left the next steps up to the trustee who oversaw the first auction. The article specifically points this out so I’m not sure if this means there wr other ways it could play out besides redoing the auction.

  • kyle@lemm.ee
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    13 hours ago

    I find this weird that the judge would say they should’ve been told they can improve their offer, because in a bid process you generally will give a BAFO. If your bid wasn’t the highest, there’s no “further negotiations”. The trustee specifically chose a model where there wouldn’t be back and forth (which may or not have been best, I’m not sure).