Thompson Says Florida Bar Requested Psych Test

MBCook wrote with a link to a GamePolitics story about another chapter of the Jack Thompson saga. Sheila M. Tuma, a person associated with Thompson's Florida Bar evaluation, has requested that the colorful lawyer 'seek psychological testing and accept a 91-day suspension of his law license.'. Though they attempted to confirm this with the Bar, no one was inclined to give the site a comment. "The e-mail explaining the situation was sent to GamePolitics by Thompson himself. The recommendation comes following issues stemming from Thompson's Bully case last year where there were issues regarding his professional conduct."

Comments

Been done before

[orclevegam]

He's actually been ordered to take Psych test before and he managed to pass them. The guy is a moron, but unfortunatly he's not clinically insane. What will happen this time is probably the same thing that happened last time. He'll go do the test, pass it (although probably give the psychologist giving the test some interesting data to work on), and then make a huge PR event out of the fact that he's legally sane. He's got a few screws loose, but he's not missing any of them so they can't actually diagnose him with anything. They need to just disbar the guy and have done with it.

Re:What a Goof

[Red Flayer]

Who really needs psychological testing are the media outlets that continue to give this lunatic a platform.

Why is that? The media companies that give him an outlet make money off his attention-whoring -- they are acting quite rationally.

The real problem are the people who listen to, and believe, the demagogues -- in Thompson's case, because it's easier than addressing causes of violence other than cultural acceptance of it. This is particularly true of those in positions of power.

Going a little further, the problem (in the US) is that our electoral system + apathetic populace + corporate mass media == positive return on demagoguery. But I really don't want to get sidetracked down that road, so:

Jack Thompson is not a fool; he might even be unstable; but he fights for something he believes in, and does so pretty well, albeit via use of questionable methods. To belittle him is to belittle the effect he has on free speech issues wrt gaming, and that is a foolish thing to do. If you consider him an enemy, you should analyze his strengths as much as his weakneses.

Eh, this is going nowhere fast

[Steeltalon]

Psychological examination probably won't prove anything and his mental acuity isn't even really the thing that seems to cause problems. It is his professional demeanor or lack of therin. His conduct is unacceptable and his disbarment should be based on that. I'm sure that they're just hoping that he fails in order to give them "solid" justification to get rid of him.

It all depends:

[Cadallin]

I have some knowledge about State Bar Association Ethics Boards, from first hand accounts. It all depends on what they want to know. In the case I know about, the guy being investigated got to pick two doctors, the Board one. His Doctor's testified that he "was not a threat to himself or others" which is doctor-speak for "I couldn't justify to a judge having him involuntarily committed." It doesn't mean any more than that. Fortunately the Ethics board was well aware of that. When asked if they believed he would do the things things that prompted the inquiry again, they admitted it was possible (in the usual non-committal sort of way, but lawyers, unlike juries, understand what that stuff means). The Board's Doctor said the same things in a more formal kind of way. The Board recommended in their report to the State Supreme Court, that he not have his license ever reinstated (he had already been suspended from practicing law due to his actions).

It really depends on the Board. I think its very possible, given his previous history of warnings in the Florida legal system, that Thompson is about to get slapped pretty hard. They aren't happy with him already. As I said, he's received a number of warnings, and has been removed from cases by judges for his behavior.

Re:What a Goof

[MinutiaeMan]

"The multitude of books is a great evil. There is no limit to this fever for writing; every one must be an author; some out of vanity, to acquire celebrity and raise up a name, others for the sake of mere gain." -- Martin Luther predicts the Internet, ca. 1530