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Jack Thompson Disbarred
Posted by
timothy
on Thu Sep 25, 2008 02:41 PM
from the it-burns-it-burns dept.
from the it-burns-it-burns dept.
Sockatume writes "The Florida Supreme Court has approved Judge Dava Tunis' recommendations for the permanent disbarment of John B. "Jack" Thompson, with no leave to reapply and $43,675.35 in disciplinary costs. The ruling is a step up from the enhanced disbarment that had been suggested by the prosecution, which would have forbidden him from reapplying for ten years. Thompson has 30 days to appeal the ruling before the disbarment is permanent. Thompson responds to the ruling."
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Idle: 6-Year-Old Says Grand Theft Auto Taught Him To Drive 504 comments
nandemoari writes "A six-year-old who recently stole his parents' car and drove it into a utility pole has passed the buck onto a familiar scapegoat: the video game, Grand Theft Auto.
Rockstar Games' controversial Grand Theft Auto video game has been criticized by parent groups and crusaders (or in the eyes of gamers, nincompoops) like former lawyer Jack Thompson for years (Thompson once tried to link the Virginia Tech slayings to late-night Counterstrike sessions. He's since been disbarred). However, not as of yet has anyone under the age of, oh, ten, blamed the game for a car theft."
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Games: Violence in Games, Once Again, Not That Compelling 191 comments
One of the great arguments of the digital age has been over the effects of video games on aggression — especially if you have ever heard the name Jack Thompson. A recent study suggest the counterpoint once again, that violent video games really don't have that much impact. "The authors performed six studies in total, but they were in broad agreement, so we'll only discuss the more compelling ones here. For the experimental portion, these involved playing an essentially identical game with different degrees of violent content. One group of participants was randomly assigned to play the game House of the Dead 3 on the different extremes of its gore settings, while a second was split between those who played the normal version of Half-Life 2, and a those who played a modified version that turned the adventure into an elaborate game of tag. In both cases, the primary influences on enjoyment were the sense of competence and satisfaction, along with the immersive nature of the game. Generally, females rated immersion as more important, while males went for competence (and consistently rated their own expertise very highly). Violence didn't register when it came to enjoyment, even for those with pre-existing violent tendencies."
[+]
Games: Jack Thompson Attacks DoD, ESA, GTA With Utah Bill 235 comments
eldavojohn writes "Delusional disbarred Miami attorney Jack Thompson claims to have a bill in the state of Utah that targets retailers and entire industries with the Truth in Advertising Law. The best part of his rant: 'Our military appropriately uses violent video games a) to suppress the inhibition to kill of new recruits, and b) to teach killing scenarios. Games have the same effect on civilian teens.' While GamePolitics couldn't find the bill on Utah's state site, they did receive a response from him claiming 'I have a sponsor and a bill, and [the video game] industry is in trouble.' For 2009 bills, there seems to be merely a bill enhancing the Truth in Advertising Law but does not contain any of Thompson's verbiage. Good 'ole Jack — always good for some laughs, but really he needs to give it up one of these days."
[+]
Games: Supreme Court Declines Jack Thompson Appeal 100 comments
eldavojohn writes "Jack Thompson was disbarred last year in Florida, putting a halt to annoying lawsuits targeting game makers and the constitutional rights of gamers. Well, he had appealed to the United States Supreme Court (scheduled to be heard last Friday) to get this overturned, but instead they declined to even hear his appeal. They wouldn't even give him the time to review his appeal, so it appears his disbarment for life stands. Florida had declined to file a response to Thompson's appeal, and it turns out they didn't need to. Sad day for Jack Thompson, but a great day for gamers everywhere."
This comes shortly after Thompson was frustrated by the vetoing of some legislation he promoted in Utah.
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Hallelujah! (Score:5, Insightful)
Maybe now we won't have to hear about him all the damn time.
~t
Bad news for GTA (Score:5, Funny)
Not that I see that as a bad thing...
on the plus side (Score:5, Funny)
this will give more time to sit around in front of the computer at home, playing video games
Kind of a shitty link, sorry guys (Score:5, Informative)
Well I'll be... (Score:5, Funny)
This will be a day long remembered. (Score:5, Interesting)
It has seen the end of a RIAA lawsuit [zdnet.com],
The end of copyright cops [wired.com],
The end of Comcast's forging of RST packets [pcauthority.com.au],
It will soon see the end of the Empire itself!
He doesn't know when to quit... (Score:5, Informative)
April fools? (Score:5, Funny)
I mean seriously - this is just too good to be true.
Jack Thompson disbarred. The RIAA loses its first court case on their "making available" theory.
I'm waiting for the OMG ponies to show up.
Nerd-vana (Score:5, Funny)
So today we have stories in which the DOJ opposes becoming the Federal Copyright Cops, the RIAA loses a couple hundred thousand dollar lawsuit, and Jack Thompson gets disbarred. To quote Perfect Strangers: Now we are so happy, we do the Dance of Joy!
Can somebody.... (Score:5, Funny)
.... Please give him a cup of hot coffee to calm him down?
Re:Hrmmm.. I dont like this. (Score:5, Funny)
Thompson always wanted to own a Bar. Now, armed with multiple US Supreme Court rulings that no state bar can do what it has done to Thompson, he is set to own that Bar.
Different kind of bar?
Parent
Re:Hrmmm.. I dont like this. (Score:5, Funny)
"Sometimes you eat the bar, and sometimes, well... he eats you."
That kind of bar. I think.
Parent
Re:Hrmmm.. I dont like this. (Score:5, Interesting)
He was disbarred in Florida. Doesn't this mean he can still take the exam and be re-barred (okay, probably not the word, although anything involving Thompson and rebar sounds like fun) in any other state?
Parent
Re:Hrmmm.. I dont like this. (Score:5, Informative)
From what I limitedly know about the Bar (in Indiana) is that once you've been disbarred in one state, you cant reapply in any other states.
Any lawyer types care to comment?
Parent
Same rule in health care (Score:5, Insightful)
I don't know about law, but in various health care professions (I keep my chiropractic license for pro bono patients) and licensed engineers (I know a few), one of the first questions they ask on any application for a license is something along the lines of
"Has your license to practice ever been suspended or revoked in this or any other jurisdiction, or has any [insert profession] board taken disciplinary action against you? If yes, please provide a detailed explaination."
That usually means that if you were booted in one jurisdiction, your chances of being licensed in another jurisdiction are sufficiently close to zero to be indistinguishable from zero for all practical purposes.
Oh, and if you are found out to have LIED on that question, your license is automatically revoked (at least in SC) and you're fined heavily. For some professions, that's even a felony and includes jail time.
Parent
Re:Hrmmm.. I dont like this. (Score:5, Informative)
Every state bar requires a background check before allowing anyone to sit for the bar exam. The background check of Jack Thompson would reveal the Florida disbarment, and there is approximately a zero percent chance that any state bar association would let him sit for the exam.
Parent
Re:Hrmmm.. I dont like this. (Score:5, Insightful)
Parent
Re:Hrmmm.. I dont like this. (Score:5, Insightful)
Exactly. If all it took was pissing off some judges, he'd have been disbarred a long, long, LONG time ago. He demonstrated compete disregard for the legal system with meritless filings for YEARS, and as a result got exactly what he deserved.
Parent
Re:Hrmmm.. I dont like this. (Score:5, Funny)
All it takes is pissing of the Bar and a few judges, and you've lost what you made with 12 years of college.
To be fair, he did more than that, he did his darndest to further the stereotype of lawyers as being rabid, idiotic, greedy, power hungry attack dogs. More significantly, he was tying up a lot of time and wasting a lot of other people's money by using completely frivolous lawsuits as a soapbox. Then he was blatantly disrespectful to everyone else, even those who disagreed with him.
This isn't like being fired because you beat your boss at golf, this is like being fired because you lost your temper, took out an ad in the local newspaper saying your company kills puppies, and then took a shit on your boss' desk.
Parent
Re:Hrmmm.. I dont like this. (Score:5, Funny)
You sound like you've thought this through. ;-)
Cheers
Parent
Sucks when actions have consequences (Score:5, Insightful)
Maybe you think everyone should be able to do whatever the hell they want whenever they want, and if people don't like it, they can piss off?
Actions have consequences. When you screw up, you have to pay the price. I know, making people pay for their mistakes is taking away their freedom to be douchebags. Obviously these professional associations, by holding their members to certain standards, must hate our freedoms.
Parent
Re:Hrmmm.. I dont like this. (Score:5, Funny)
He did what with the piss of some judges?
Parent
Re:Hrmmm.. I dont like this. (Score:5, Informative)
Even suspensions are survivable.
Jack Thompson, among other things, submitted porn to the courts, accused multiple judges of bribery in open court and public filings, violated numerous ethical rules regarding practice without a license, good character, etc. He falsely represented himself as being the lawyer for criminal victims, profited off their suffering, and then lied in court about it. He accused other lawyers of just as bad offenses, without a shred of evidence. On a more personal level, I can confirm that years ago, he physically broke into at least one lawyer's office to drop of papers and "scare" them (I know the lawyer personally).
Jack Thompson is a festering boil on the hide of the law.
Parent
Re:What's next? (Score:5, Funny)
Parent
Re:What's next? (Score:5, Funny)
Just nuke him from orbit. It's the only way to be sure.
Parent