Jack Thompson Disbarred; Claims Florida Lawyers Are Out To Get Him

from the will-he-still-get-on-TV? dept

Thu, Sep 25th 2008 3:32pm — Mike Masnick

It's been quite a while since we last wrote about Jack Thompson, the rather infamous lawyer who blames all sorts of violent crimes on video games and has repeatedly sued video game makers in an effort to shift blame from actual violent criminals to the makers of the video games they play. Thompson was also a regular guest on various TV news shows talking about video games and violence, where he would insist repeatedly (against plenty of evidence to the contrary) that video games cause people to kill. He was also famous for filing bogus lawsuits against critics and has been told by judges repeatedly that he needs to actually follow the law.

Well, it appears that all that may be over, as Jack Thompson has now been disbarred, effective 30 days from today. Of course, Thompson isn't one to let a little thing like being disbarred stop him. He's responded at length and is appealing the disbarment (even though he's not actually allowed to file the appeal -- he did so anyway). Still, all this makes you wonder if the various TV news shows that always had him on as a guest will (a) report on his disbarment or (b) still use him as a guest in future stories about video games and violence.

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Filed Under: blame video games, disbarred, florida, jack thompson

34 Comments

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Anonymous Coward, 25 Sep 2008 @ 3:38pm

Permit me to be first to say...
...it's about damned time.
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Ragaboo, 25 Sep 2008 @ 4:07pm

YESSSSS
yesyesyesyesyesyesyesyesyes
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Gozza, 25 Sep 2008 @ 4:09pm

I hope we'll still see him around sometimes. He's a good caricature. His role could easily be fulfilled by someone more subtle and insinuous. Someone that might actually change the way people think about the subject. Perhaps Jack's even carrying the burden of being 'that guy'.
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Xyro TR1 (profile), 25 Sep 2008 @ 4:17pm

Where will he end up
Where's he going next? Probably the RIAA.
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Anonymous Coward, 25 Sep 2008 @ 4:19pm

This has been a good week for video games, with Jack Thompson being disbarred and EA being sued.
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dave.nunez@gamil.com, 25 Sep 2008 @ 4:24pm

Re: Where will he end up
As long as its not the ESRB...

So what TV shows was he on? I wanna email them an "in ur face" email. lol
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Anonymous Coward, 25 Sep 2008 @ 4:24pm

Insert Simpsons 'HA HA' here.
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Fat Lady Singing, 25 Sep 2008 @ 4:26pm

He can still file pro se a la Jonathan Lee Riches.
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26 y/o girl gamer, 25 Sep 2008 @ 4:27pm

good
Good. That guy's an old fart that doesn't understand how the world actually works. I'm glad the legal community understands that too.
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Matt, 25 Sep 2008 @ 4:39pm

hell yeah
I saw that superdouche on an episode of Attack of the Show (G4 Network) in their segment "The Loop". He was arguing about the game "Bully" with Adam Sessler (co-host of X-Play also on G4) about how it would incite violence in kids. He never even played the game! Adam pretty much reamed his @$$ for it too. He is an idiot and deserves what he got.
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Dylan, 25 Sep 2008 @ 5:09pm

Eh?
I heard about this months ago. Was that just the start of the proceedings and it's now official, or does TechDirt find things out after everyone else?
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Anonymous Coward, 25 Sep 2008 @ 5:21pm

Re: hell yeah
For anyone interested, that Jack Thompson video is here...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=miAQhDDt018
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Phillip Vector, 25 Sep 2008 @ 6:16pm

Appealing a Disbarment?
Not that I think he should be a lawyer..

But is it true you can't appeal a disbarment? If so, how does one fight against a disbarment that is unfair (or is the disbarment process set up to eliminate any amount of unfairness)?
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Anonymous Coward, 25 Sep 2008 @ 6:22pm

Jack Thompson aside, no rational person can argue that exposure to and glorification of violence is better than not being exposed and probably worse in terms of crime desensitization. Same applies to most such exposure such as advertising where female models are anorexic, etc. Any repeated exposure to a message makes that message more acceptable. I have a friend whose son recently told me he is looking forward to driving a tank in Iraq and shooting "things". I wonder where he got that heartwarming idea. Perhaps the years of playing vids as a teen? Coincidence?
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Anonymous Coward, 25 Sep 2008 @ 6:23pm

Re: Appealing a Disbarment?
probably requires a different lawyer to do it...
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Phillip Vector, 25 Sep 2008 @ 6:26pm

Re:
"I have a friend whose son recently told me he is looking forward to driving a tank in Iraq and shooting "things". I wonder where he got that heartwarming idea. Perhaps the years of playing vids as a teen? Coincidence?"

Let's see...

1. Bad parents
2. Cartoons (YO JOE!)
3. Movies

That's just in the minute I decided to dedicate to thinking about what else it can be. Are video games part of that list? Perhaps. Is videogames the only thing? No.
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Anonymous Coward, 25 Sep 2008 @ 6:55pm

Re: Where will he end up
False facts? Propaganda designed to push a narrow agenda and program water-cooler conversations to believe that anti-factual truth is equal and equivalent to an equally valid yet differing opinion? There can be only one place he will wind up -- a prime-time FOX-News anchor.
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Anonymous Coward, 25 Sep 2008 @ 6:57pm

Re:
You know? If you turn over a rock, you find insects. So that means that rocks give birth insects! It's true! Look! I have PROOF!
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Anonymous Coward, 25 Sep 2008 @ 7:12pm

Re: Eh?
the proceedings began a while back but the decison jsut came down today.
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Anonymous Coward, 25 Sep 2008 @ 7:13pm

Re: Re: Appealing a Disbarment?
Yes, he was banned from making ANY more filings himself, but he can hire another lawyer to do it for him.
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JT, 25 Sep 2008 @ 7:36pm

Re:
Did he say people or things? While I'm far removed from my prime of being in the military, I would love to drive a tank and shoot "things" ... It's not to say I'm violent or anything but I would love to be able to do some of the things that R. Lee Ermey did on Mail Call. Just because I like to shoot a gun doesn't mean I'm a serial killer.

Too many people like to lump things together in a big pile and call it the same thing when they're not.
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Anonymous Coward, 25 Sep 2008 @ 7:44pm

Re:
I agree that it can probably cause desensitization for some developing minds. I also think that anyone that has a mental defect is so many actions from snapping whether it be a rapist, murder, serial killer, etc.

The ESRB exists for a reason and parents need to learn to say no to Johnny and to actually have a hand in raising him rather than relying on video games and TV doing it for them.
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Greg, 25 Sep 2008 @ 7:56pm

...and the horse he rode in on.
I think they should disbar anyone who does any fillings for him also. He has abused the US legal system too long for stupid things. He should lose his "legaling" privileges (along with many more people).
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DanC, 25 Sep 2008 @ 8:07pm

Re:
no rational person can argue that exposure to and glorification of violence is better than not being exposed and probably worse in terms of crime desensitization.

Actually there's a very rational argument to be made for some level of exposure to violence. Sheltering your kids from violence leaves them unprepared for the real world. Sure, parents should act as a filter for what their kids see, but to suggest that completely removing exposure to violence is somehow better than any exposure to it is foolish.

Any repeated exposure to a message makes that message more acceptable.

Isn't that part of what parents are supposed to do?

I have a friend whose son recently told me he is looking forward to driving a tank in Iraq and shooting "things". I wonder where he got that heartwarming idea. Perhaps the years of playing vids as a teen? Coincidence?

That your friend's son hasn't had proper morals instilled into him by his parents? Nope, not a coincidence at all.
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hegemon13, 25 Sep 2008 @ 9:08pm

Re: Appealing a Disbarment?
He can appeal. What the article said is that he can't file the appeal, given that he is disbarred and not technically a lawyer anymore. If he wants to appeal, he needs to file through a lawyer like anyone else.
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Isaac K (profile), 26 Sep 2008 @ 6:17am

FOR GREAT JUSTICE!!!
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The Mad (Patent) Prosecutor, 26 Sep 2008 @ 6:42am

I don't agree with his disbarment. I don't have all the facts, but the facts I do have seem to indicate he had an unpopular opinion. Looks like the techdirt masses are all for free speech - as long as it maligns Microsoft, or disparages DRM - those with "other" opinions, well, the peanut gallery jigs with glee at their being silenced.

And as far as a court prohibiting a person from filing a response to a judgment against him, I don't even know how such a prohibition can be consitutional. Again, the techdirt crowd often decries judicial abuse, but those sympathies are reserved for "innocent" downloaders and the like, not those who lose there livelihood.
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steve jones, 26 Sep 2008 @ 6:45am

Nice to see the liberals fight this like everything else they don't understand. Call names, make fun, act 10 years old, and use the law to force their will on others, by skirting around the law, and using it against itself. I hope we wake up before all freedoms are taken by them.
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thecaptain, 26 Sep 2008 @ 7:00am

Re:
Actually, his unpopular opinion had nothing to do with why he got disbarred.

Read up a little, he was disbarred for abusing the court system to berate his opponents. He was also filing inappropriate documents and generally behaving rather badly in court. He had been placed in contempt of court many times if I recall correctly.

Damn, now I'll have to go back and read a bit more :)

Now...MOST OF US are cheering his disbarrement BECAUSE of his "unpopular opinion"...but there's nothing wrong with that.

We don't care why he was disbarred, just the fact that he was.
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inc, 26 Sep 2008 @ 7:20am

yay
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Grae, 26 Sep 2008 @ 9:33am

Re:
Who said anything about Microsoft or DRM? Considering Jack Thompson's position on video games, he was no fan of Microsoft, and I don't recall him ever having a position on DRM or "downloaders". Do you work for the RIAA? Put that red herring away, no one wants it.

As far as any constitutional rights being violated: this isn't a traditional court, it's the Florida State Bar. You know... the folks that decide whether or not you can practice law within Florida?

If Jack Thompson was in court as a defendant in a civil or criminal matter, then yes, it would be a violation of his rights to deny him from filing an appeal himself.

I honestly don't know if the "file paperwork through a lawyer recognized by the Bar" directive is a standard rule or one that they put in place for his case because of his outlandish behavior, but the Bar is within its rights as a licensing and regulatory body to request that paperwork be filed in a specific manner. He lost his license to practice law because he went outside the rules of conduct that he agreed to follow when he received his license.

So I'd have to agree with you, that no, you don't have all the facts. In fact, you don't have any that were pertinent to his being disbarred.
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Erik, 26 Sep 2008 @ 1:16pm

Oh great, now he's going to have an even bigger axe to grind. But this is a good step.
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Anonymous Coward, 27 Sep 2008 @ 8:48pm

"Still, all this makes you wonder if the various TV news shows that always had him on as a guest will (a) report on his disbarment or (b) still use him as a guest in future stories about video games and violence."

Oh, I'm sure he's just about to embark on a long and productive career as an expert witness on the same subject matter...
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BTR1701, 29 Sep 2008 @ 9:58am

Re: Re: Appealing a Disbarment?
> If he wants to appeal, he needs to file
> through a lawyer like anyone else.

Filing through a lawyer is not necessary for him or for anyone else. Anyone can represent themselves pro se. In fact, doing so is a guaranteed right that can't be denied unless a court finds you incompetent or mentally impaired.
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