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.
The Florida Bar Wins.
Fatality
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
Some crazies might, but with that kind of mark on his record, I can't imagine any mainstream press would touch him.
Well there's always Fox News.
Shouldn't that be "PWNED!"?
Setting his threshold to 5, Sparky eliminated most of the trolls on /.
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.
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.
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.
Why a right-winger? Left-wingers are at least as hostile to freedom of speech when the speech is something they dislike.
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.
This seems to be in Florida only.
If he is disbarred there, can he pass the bar in another state?
If you can't kill someone with an electric shaver, you're not trying hard enough.
I see your informative link, and raise you a pithy comment.
Well, I knew he's a hardcore-conservative born-again Christian and I saw the recent story where he sent pictures of hot gay sex to the court, and not in a "hey, check out this hot, hot gay sex" way. So I allowed myself a little speculative license.
Referee recommends dismemberment for Jack Thompson?
I know. Too much Dexter.
Blog
As a supposed left winger, i agree. People who put their causes above all else are the problem here. Defending ideological territory at any cost is akin (isomorphic?) to religious zealotry.
Displaying my supposed left-wingedness, i'll say that religions are fine, provided you don't shove them down everyone else's throats. The same goes for ideological platforms. Thankyou.
http://www.xkcd.com/354/
To be specific, it can be used as a blunt instrument in a blow to the temple or trachea. Removing the guard can allow it to cause lacerations, probably most effective when striking an eye. The batteries can be removed, shorted, and then ingested by the victim, potentially causing major internal damage. It can be held by the ends and used to choke the victim.
Not a sentence!
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.
That's it. No more CSI for you.
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
Other ideas for Jack Thompson video games:
How about "Jack Thompson, Homeless Ex-Attorney," where the goal is to panhandle for enough money to get online, then solicit donations from old ladies to keep up your crusade against video games?
Or "Jack Thompson's Texas Hold Em," where you play the game by arguing with the dealer about signing loyalty oaths and get up from the table every other hand until the other players have you escorted from the casino?
Or "Jack Thompson's Civilization," where you attempt to remove art, commerce and government systems from a modern society in favor of strict 18th century morality?
Or "Jack Thompson's Wild Filings," which would be an ARG, where you would try to win legal cases by posting the wildest photos from the Internet instead of written arguments and solve puzzles through the use of ancient christian symbology?
Or "Jack Thompson's Hentai Explosion," where a fully rendered 3D Jack Thompson wanders the streets of Tokyo looking for chances to score with big breasted anime characters in school uniforms, then execute successful finishing moves on the characters and their worldly possessions?
Or "Jack Thompson's Battleship," where you shoot your own boats out of the water and win by accusing the other side of cheating so much they get pissed off and refuse to play anymore?
Or "Jack Thompson's Punch Out," where the only character you can fight is Jack "Glassjaw" Thompson, there are no TKOs, and you basically get to beat on Jack for hours? ... the list goes on ...
M
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
While I can understand why we should not censor what someone else creates, a game doesn't really qualify as speech.
Please go crawl back under your bridge. Speech means expression, video games are expression, you are not even a particularly interesting troll.
"You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"