Slashdot Mirror
Referee Recommends Disbarment For Jack Thompson
spielermacher writes "GamePolitics is reporting that Jack Thompson — the lawyer every gamer loves to hate — has apparently lost his court case and is facing disbarment. The Referee in the case has gone beyond the Florida Bar's request for a 10-year disbarment and is recommending a lifetime ban. From the Final Report issued by the court: '... the Respondent has demonstrated a pattern of conduct to strike out harshly, extensively, repeatedly and willfully to simply try to bring as much difficulty, distraction and anguish to those he considers in opposition to his causes. He does not proceed within the guidelines of appropriate professional behavior ...' All I can say is that it's about time."
At least the US Gov. managed to do one thing right today.
Prediction: The real iPhone killer is going to be sex robots from Japan. Think about it.
The Judge also wants him to cough up $43,000 to cover the Bar costs because the whole thing was so outrageous.
ACs are modded -6. I don't read you, I don't mod you, I don't see you. Don't like it? Don't be a coward.
He'll probably make more cash being a commentator on Fox News pushing their particular agenda. He's been defanged but no one's cut his vocal cords.
Who tagged this story "censorship". Jack Thompson can think or say whatever he wants, but abusing his legal standing to further his cause is not acceptable to the Bar. Also he's acted unprofessional numerous times.
Ding-dong the witch is dead
:-)
Which old witch? The wicked witch
Ding-dong the wicked witch is dead
Wake up you sleepyhead
Rub your eyes, get out of bed
Wake up the wicked witch is dead
She's gone where the goblins go
Below - below - below
Yo-ho, let's open up and sing and ring the bells out
Ding Dong' the merry-oh, sing it high, sing it low
Let them know the Wicked Witch is dead
Fear the penguin.
It's about time! I really hope they make sure he pays the court costs.
The Florida Bar Wins.
Fatality
I believe I speak for all of us when I say, "OWNED!"
Hopefully, no one will listen to him any more if he gets the disgrace of permanent disbarment. Some crazies might, but with that kind of mark on his record, I can't imagine any mainstream press would touch him.
"16MB (fuck off, MiB fascists)" - The Mighty Buzzard
Bill G. retires. And now Jack T. is being disbarred. Who will be the slashdot editor post about for us to all agree on in our complaints?!
Bearded Dragon
Don't think it's the last time we see this guy lobbying for the elimination of xyz. Just a little bump in the road.
I love reading legal documents where it's clear that the person being deposed is batshit crazy, and they're trying not to use pejorative language while stating the facts.
As an example, the line "During his testimony, the undersigned Referee asked for clarification of Mr. Thompson as to which of the four binders of exhibits in evidence he was referring. Once clarified, Mr. Thompson spoke at length, before re-addressing the issues" is footnoted with the following:
What followed the Court's inquiry regarding clarification as to in which binder the document was located, is twenty-three (23) pages of testimony by Mr. Thompson involving matters such as: why he had not shaved that day for court; referring to the "Twinkie" case about the killing of a Mayor in San Francisco; a lawsuit filed by him in Kentucky in 1999 involving allegations regarding a video game entitled, 'Doom'; an interview with Matt Lauer from NBC's Today show; the killings in Columbine; information about a Lt. Colonel David Grossman regarding his book, On Killing; information regarding addressing the American Bar Association and his shared Christian values with David Grossman; former President Bill Clintonâ(TM)s radio address regarding David Grossman (sometime during the Clinton administration years); an appearance with now deceased CBS reporter Ed Bradley of 60 Minutes; comments by Peggy Noonan-former President Ronald Reagan's speech writer-and an article she wrote for The Wall Street Journal; comments about the movie starring actors Russell Crowe and Al Pacino, called The Insider; issues regarding products liability and 'Big Tobacco'; the alleged targeting by Mr. Thompson by Blank Rome; information about Doug Lowenstein described as the president and chief lobbyist for the parent company of the ESRB (Entertainment Software Rating Board)--which Mr. Thompson alleges now "represents gun running cartels." T 1068, line 7; an article published in Reader's Digest with actor Tom Hanks on the cover; Mr. Thompson's meeting with convicted murderer Devin Moore on death row; a contention of a racial component in defendant Moore's case, "they certainly have it to contend with in Alabama being a slave state," T 1070, line 15, 1071, line 1; information that allegedly occurred the week of the Final Hearing in this disciplinary matter regarding comments made by a law enforcement officer in Australia and New Zealand equating a spike in teen violence with interactive violent video games; an article which purportedly appeared in Time magazine quoting David Grossman; the connection of violence towards law enforcement officers and interactive video games that simulate the killing of officers; and the numerous civil lawsuits filed across the country in various jurisdictions which lead to the filing of the Strickland case in Fayette, Alabama.
I'm almost going to miss the crazy bastard. This stuff is too good to be fake.
ad logicam Claiming a proposition is false because it was presented as the conclusion of a fallacious argument.
Dang it! I totally thought that said "dismemberment"!
What doesn't kill you only delays the inevitable
It's really a shame that the anti-violent game lobby has someone like JT as a de-facto spokesman.
Ultimately - even if you disagree - they have a reasonable position. i.e. it's generally bad for kids to play violent games. and all reasonable positions should be considered. Having someone who goes off at wild tangents, blames everything on games whether there's any evidence or not and pisses off the entire legal system is not really a good person to have on your side.
Take Two must be sad that he will no longer do free advertisement.
Well, he may still, but no one will listen to him.
Let's let good news be for once, hmm?
Humor aside, we all know that he'll end up as a "moral pundit" or some similar shit on FOX News.
PC moderators can suck my White pierced, tattooed dick. If you think pride == hate, s/dick/Aryan meat mallet/g.
I read that as "dismemberment" - oh well, disbarment works too.
Penny Arcade made a very good point a few years ago, when Thompson was threatening them:
Now that it is even more obvious that Thompson is a nutcase, who is going to take his place? Someone competent in that role? That is a scary thought.
Since I'm relatively unfamiliar with Thompson's history, I went and read his Wikipedia page, and I have to give him this: he certainly pursued his goal singlemindedly. I figured he would be in some right-winger's pocket or something, but the guy really went after EVERYONE. It's not often you see someone who sincerely doesn't care about anything except the axe he's grinding.
I hope he got well paid by Take Two for all his work in publicising Grand Theft Auto.
None of them can see the clouds; The polished wings don't care.
Well of course they made a move to disbar Jack Thompson. There can only be one king asshole and they certainly weren't going to let some schmuck hold the title.
I'm reading the magistrate's report, and even though I thought I was used to his craziness I'm shocked by what he's done. Take Two can easily weather the bad publicity, and even benefit slightly if they handle it right. The kind of garbage he pulls with the lawyers who "cross" him (i.e. file any sort of court pleading that he doesn't like) is beyond absurd. Sending letters to lawyers' wives accusing them of selling pornography to children, for example.
"court, pcgames, censorship, suddenoutbreakofcommonsense, haha (tagging beta)" I swear sometimes the tags on stories make me laugh more than the story themselves. But good riddance to bad rubbish as they say. But, it won't be long for someone new to come and take up the reins where he left off.
Will his "victims" get their money back and their cases reopened, if this is supported by the court's evidence?
Is there anything to stop him from making the exact same amount of noise, but just hiring other lawyers to do the legal mumbo jumbo?
I doubt he'll be able to find anyone to work for free. Tilting at windmills is cheap only if it's your windmill and you're doing it on your own dime.
He probably realised that shaving tools can be considered 'weapons' and after visualising a game called "Barbers 101 - Virtual Tutorials" his mind nearly asploded.
He is that batshit crazy he probably even thinks people can kill other people using an electric shaver!
Are you local? There's nothing for you here!
Wait, what?
---- Liquid was a patriot ----
This seems to be in Florida only.
If he is disbarred there, can he pass the bar in another state?
'... the Respondent has demonstrated a pattern of conduct to strike out harshly, extensively, repeatedly and willfully to simply try to bring as much difficulty, distraction and anguish to those he considers in opposition to his causes. He does not proceed within the guidelines of appropriate professional behavior ...'
Does this description vaguely remind aanyone else of the behaaviour of certiaan groups? I caan't put my finger on it...
Referee recommends dismemberment for Jack Thompson?
I know. Too much Dexter.
Blog
That's all good (and well deserved), but when are they going to get around to the RIAA and MPAA lawyers? They're just as bad at predatory practices and push the limits constantly. Disbar all of them as well!
Jack Thompson will simply reinvent himself as a lobbyist and if you think he was bad as a lawyer, wait until he has no rules by which to follow. I'm not so sure if just keeping him an ineffective lawyer would have been better.
My fiancee just read that as "Referee Recommends _Dismemberment_ For Jack Thompson".
And while that may be slightly harsh from my perspective, I'm sure it'd get quite a few votes.
Support FSF: Stop thinking with your wallet, and think with your imagination. (cc/non-commercial)
That paragraph should have ended with "only to end by saying 'so clearly the document has to be in the bonder on the left'" purely in the name of legal thoroughness.
ya
I believe that magnificent troll's ability to practice law would be doing society a grave tragedy. I mean, would you have prevented Andy Kaufman from wrestling women or Sacha Cohen from screwing with people's heads. If they disbar Thompson, then one of my modes of entertainment is severed.
I have to question the journalism skills of a gaming site. Just like slashdot, they are very quick to do stories that promote a certain way of thinking, correct or not. Here's a bit of the PDF they built the story on:
"It is apparent that other costs have or may be incurred. It is recommended that all such costs and expenses together with the foregoing itemized costs be charged to the Respondent, and that interest at the statutory rate shall accrue and be payable beginning 30 days after the judgement in this case becomes final unless a waiver is granted by the Board of Governors of the Florida Bar. It is further recommended that Respondent shall be deemed delinquent and ineligible to practice law persuant to R. Regulating Fla. Bar 1-3.6 for failure to timely pay the costs assessed in this proceeding."
It looks more, to me, he's in trouble with just Florida, but only if he doesn't pay his fees on time. My understanding is, he could skip paying this. I don't think he's commented on what he'll do, but it's highly likely he'll pay like any other lawyer and be able to continue pestering people in Florida. Regardless, he has 49 other states to harass.
they can always make a video game based on him:
"Jack Thompson: Video Game Attorney"
You get to control Jack Thompson and be in court and select what objections and arguments you want to use to prove your case. If you lose too many cases, you might get disbarred and the game is over.
Remember, Slashdot does not have a -1 disagree moderation, and no, troll, flamebait, and overrated are not substitutes.
While I can understand why we should not censor what someone else creates, a game doesn't really qualify as speech. Sure, it might make a political point, but no one buys video games because of the political angle. If they did, the hottest games on the market would be titles like: "Run for Senator 2008," and "Executive Power: Iran Nuclear Diplomacy," and "Capitol Gang: Election 2008".
Games are meant for fun, not political statements. Instead of trying to cast game censorship into the mold of free speech rights, we would do better simply to establish the rational basis for freedom of creativity, and the "pursuit of happiness". It is less dishonest and has a greater overall positive impact on those with a freedom-vs-security mindset.
The society for a thought-free internet welcomes you.
To the ranks of ordinary citizenry where he will have to pay a lawyer in order to implement his constant legal threats and bullying.
You think most people that watch Fox News will even have a clue about his disbarment? The spin gets played in the main hours, the stuff that might even remotely matter is played like near-noon when people are at work or just heading to lunch.
Still waiting on Serviscope_minor to wake up to fucking reality and realize that Jessica Price isn't going to fuck him.
You think we've seen the last of Jack?
I don't think so. They guy has found out you can make a living out of being an asshole, he's not likely to drop that recipe for success. My bet is that he'll be doing the pundit round next. He'll found some institute so his CV can read "former lawyer, now chairman and founder of the No More Violence Institute" or something like it, and then he'll go from TV station to TV station and spread his crap. Very few of them will tell their viewers about his disbarment.
Assorted stuff I do sometimes: Lemuria.org
Chances are he will hit the talk show circuit, particularly among conservatives, to give speeches about video games and the decline of civilization (or law) as we know it. I half expect him to show up at a local church and be proclaimed a prophet.
And he'll write a book.
$nice = $webHosting + $domainNames + $sslCerts
Beautiful. Just...wow, words fail me. Ten out of ten, Mr Thompson...
As happy as I want to be from this, Jack Thompson is just the sort of prick who will pack up and move to another state that would accept is insanity. So it's probably not the last we've heard from him.
It didn't say "disbared", it said "dismembered"
Every time you call tech support, a little kitten dies.
I dunno about you guys, but I recommend re-barment. Shoving a length of steel re-bar through his body sounds pretty good to me...
The Florida Supreme Court also had weighed in. An excerpt:
Thompson's most recent filings are repetitive, frivolous, and, like his earlier ones, insulting to the Court. One of Thompson's recent filings contains what Thompson refers to as a "children's picture book for adults" that rehashes his previous arguments in illustrated form which he states was necessary due to "the Court's inability to comprehend" his arguments. Between the text of the motion, Thompson pasted images depicting swastikas, kangaroos in court, a reproduced dollar bill, cartoon squirrels, Paul Simon, Paul Newman, Ray Charles, a handprint with the word "SLAP!" written under it, Bar Governor Benedict P. Kuehne, a baby, Ed Bradley, Jack Nicholson, Justice Clarence Thomas, Julius Caesar, monkeys, and a house of cards, and the motion concludes with a photograph of the cover of Thompson's book, Out of Harm's Way.
This guy has totally to watch some Too fast Too furious. And with any luck, maybe, hopefully, he might not listen to the "The tricks you have seen in this movie have been done by professionals, make no attempt to repeat them at home."