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Jack Thompson Sues Florida Bar
Gamasutra reports that Jack Thompson has sued the Florida Bar Association, for "hector[ing] plaintiff Thompson for 19 months with SLAPP Bar complaints filed by opposing counsel (Strategic Litigation Against Public Participants). Continually, during that time, Thompson and his counsel in these Bar matters have repeatedly asked The Florida Bar to sit down with him and his counsel to try to resolve, once and for all, this dispute, which goes back more than 18 years when other baseless SLAPP Bar complaints were filed, resulting in the payment of money damages to plaintiff Thompson."
I find it difficult to read anything involving Jack Thompson seriously at this point. The media coverage he has gained just makes him look like the lead act in a ridiculous circus. While it may have even been funny in a stomach-turning way at one point or another, it's essentially just pathetic to see news involving him.
I can only hope that he learns his lesson sooner or later, or at least it'll get to the point where nobody cares about Jack Thompson. At this stage in the game to say otherwise owuld be an exercise in futility.
Fun Zoid RPG
I personally know someone who filed one of those 19 complaints and I can tell you they had nothing to do with "opposing counsel" of any law case at all.
Go figure. Someone breaks the ethics rules of the Florida Bar. A number of people nationwide respond by filing complaints with the Florida Bar noting these breaches of ethics rules. And the guy's response? Is to sue the Florida Bar for allowing people to file these complaints in the first place.
Jack Thompson's suit is the exact sort of thing the term "SLAPP" was designed to describe in the first place. It's disgusting he is able to get away with things like this. And the worst part? In the end, he probably won't have any consequences. He'll get the publicity he craves from this spat with the Bar, but what with the pressure he's applying by gaming the system, the Bar will probably back off on actually doing anything about his ethics violations.
Jack Thompson sues U.S. District Court of Southeastern Florida over Florida Bar decision? I wonder if he'll stop when he gets to suing Jesus, or whether he'll go the final step up to God...
maybe he'll fade away. Probably not, but it's better than hearing his self-aggrandizing crusade against all things not Jack Thompson. The problem is that some news media treat him a serious player in the world, when their only proof seems to be previous news media's treatment of him as a serious player.
He's been doing this since 1989. You just haven't heard of him until recently because before he was attacking video games, he was attacking rap music.
17 years. And he hasn't faded away yet.
Really, some things don't go away when you stop paying attention to them.
What would Jack Thompson do for a Florida bar?
Anyone else find it funny how they used that "crazy" picture of him that used to be on Wikipedia? I wonder if this guy is losing the love of the media...
I mean, I think it's only fair; he is suing the Association, which they have a right to defend, right? So, lawyer battle royale?
These days it seems the only difference between a layman and an expert is the title...
Happiness does not come from having much, but from being attached to little.
For some reason, it strikes me as extraordinarily stupid to bite the hand that feeds ... sorry, sue the bar that allows you to practice.
Then again, SCO shows us how what appears to be stupid on the surface can really be an extremely smart exploitation of the legal system for personal gains.
So, let's follow the money - what's Jack's potential profit here? More publicity?
Assorted stuff I do sometimes: Lemuria.org
...You really are an asshole that drags down the entire profession.You should be disbarred. You represent everything that is wrong with being a lawyer.
Slashdot, where armchair scientists get shouted down and armchair theologians get modded up.
Jack Thompson's behavior is easier to understand if you remember his origins
claiming one million dollars in damages, based on what he claims are vindictive complaints filed against him by other lawyers
And encouraging families to sue game makers is not vindictive?! The man has been abusing the legal system filing frivolous complaints against game makers for years.
The ways of gods are mysteriously indistinguishable from chance.
What a fucking cocksucker that Jack is! (And my apologies to any people who suck cock for associating you with that piece of trash.)
In an ideal world layers would spend all day happily suing each other and leave the rest of us to get on with life.
You know, there ought to be some status in law, where a person's opinion is no longer regarded as more meaningful than purely entropic noise. Lets call it cum granum salis. A person having this status could neither be sole plaintiff nor sole witness in a legal case. If they wanted to bring suit, they'd have to have a guarantor willing to swear to their truthfulness - who would risk having their own opinions taken cum granum salis if the case were subsequently thrown out for lack of merit.
The first recipients should probably be Jack Thompson, and SCO.
"I enjoy doing what I do and I think I've got a First Amendment right to annoy people and participate in the public square in the cultural war," Jack Thompson.
Explains why he keeps evading bans on Gamepolitics, and spewing his usual retarded drivel there. For someone who is "wining", he sure spends a lot of time posting and obsessing over GamePolitics. But what else can you say about someone who, among various absurd things, feels blogs are for losers(but not LiveJournal accounts to post PR pieces, trash talk, etc), whines when someone calls/mails him, and has non-existent/default "no page here yet" web sites? Guess the place holder is better then his text only Florida Bar attack site(which is now "no page here" humm....).
You know, a bunch of people have been wondering if Jack suffers from some sort of mental disability/defect. Given how he acts like some Usenet kooks I "know"(taking things to real life, being very hypocritical in their actions, claming credit for the work of others, claiming any darned thing is a victory for them, making absurd claims, etc), I wouldn't be surprised if this is the case. HELL, this makes a lot of sense, his last issue with the Florida bar in the 90s was over their forcing him to undergo psychiatric testing!
While he did pass and was awarded a $20,000 settlement, I have to wonder with all the advances in psychology and diagnosis of mental disabilities, if they will find something this time. And that is what I think is a good reason for his current mental breakdown, with the constant losing streak, inappropriate behavior, legal antics, and now the Florida bar, things are not looking too good for Jack despite his poker face & "I am going to win" attitude. He faces to lose a lot of creditablity, his profession, and greatly damages his "muder-sim p0rn0 games made them kill, they should be banned" cause.
He is at the end of his wits, grasping at straws, running out of time and deep down realizes that he not going to get anywhere in terms of what he wants. Thus like kooks he takes the safe route of all talk, little to no real action.
Was the $20,000 settlement for having to undergo psychiatric testing? Because he asked a Florida judge to declare the Florida Bar Association unconstitutional in 1992, and that was resolved with a $20,000 settlement to him. But was the psychiatric evaluation part of that case or a different one?
Regardless of the fact that he passed the evaluation, the man is batshit crazy.
Kierthos
Mr. Hu is not a ninja.
Poor defendants. I wonder where they're going to find a good lawyer.
What bar is he suing and why? Did he get too many drinks thrown in his face by women (or men perhaps) and is out for vengeance?
... I should really do something with that domain I registered :)
Probably related to the formal filing: Jack Thompson took down his [former] website www.theflabar.org, in which he mocked and ridiculed the Florida Bar.
...that cartoon's just simply...WRONG...on so many levels.
And funny as all get out, considering Jack's past and recent conduct...
I am not merely a "consumer" or a "taxpayer". I am a Citizen of the State of Texas
What's even more hypocritical is that any time anyone he disagrees with emails him, he's quoting the federal law that makes it illegal to anonymously send annoying emails. He quotes this law even if the emails are sent using the sender's real name. But then again knowing the law hasn't really been his strong point, ever.
In Soviet Russia, I ruled you
Jack Thompson reminds me of the frog. The frog that is strangling the bird, as the bird eats him head-first.
Don't ever give up.
No fear!
Go Jack Thompson!
"Jack Thompson plays videogame, sues self."
I mean I know some people are out to "get" him, but aren't most those people gamers who are fed up with his propaganda and FUD that does nothing but harm video games by exploiting the gullibility of 3/4 of America? I mean seriously, it is like he is saying, "The Bar is mad at me because I won, so now they are not playing fair and trying to take me down." And if that isn't bad enough he is adding to it, "It is all because those mean lawyers for the video game companies don't like me." He even lies about his removal from the Alabama case (again). Slashdot reported after he "left" that the judge pretty much said, "Leave or I will have you removed." I mean it is like saying you quit a job when they gave you the "Quit or get fired" ultimatum.
I really wish someone could finally bring Jack down, but in the end, it seems he might manage to do that on his own. Someday he will pick a fight with the wrong guy, and saying "I'm a lawyer, and I will sue," will not be enough to save him as they beat him down. Maybe, in a bit of irony, whoever does it can use the video games made me do it defense. In memory of the late and not-so-great JT, which would become the dedication for the next GTA after his demise.
"Some days you just can't get rid of a bomb."
This guys still alive? And more importantly, why are we still discussing him like he makes some sort of difference at all? Don't feed the trolls people
unzip ; strip ; touch ; grep ; find ; finger ; mount ; fsck ; more ; yes ; fsck ; umount ; sleep
I wouldn't underestimate the veracity of the bar when it comes to ethics violations. Suing the bar isn't going to get them to back off, it's only going to make them more frustrated and willing to pursue you.
Wouldn't doing something like this get him automatically disbarred with no appeal?
GLaDOS for President 2016! "Well here we are again. It's always such a pleasure." -- GLaDOS, 2011
This isn't about frivilous complains, or about the money (only 1 million, when is the last time a lawyer only wanted 1?)
This is 2 things.
1: He sues the bar, and can subpeona the names of the complaint filers.
2: He can't be debarred until the case is over, and he can strech it out a while.
You will be baked, and there will be cake.
see http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=att ention+whore
Label given to any person who craves attention to such an extent that they will do anything to receive it. The type of attention (negative or positive) does not matter.
Jack is fighting a Take Two lawyer named Blank Rome? What, they couldn't find one named Duke Nukem to really make him mad?
Dreamers, shapers, singers, makers... Elric, the Techno-Mage
OK, so Thompson is an idiot. Unfortunately, whenever he is mentioned the noise level rises enough that it's pretty hard to find actual analysis of his crusade du jour. Some of this probably has to do with the fact that lawsuits over video games are a recent phenomenon and this hurts the ability of those commenting on the cases. I would hope that somebody is trying to do some real analysis this time (and this case isn't necessarily about games). Anyone have links?