Click here to see the entire series: The Bar Trial of Jack Thompson...
It's fair to say that Miami attorney Jack Thompson is an iconic figure among the video game community, although not in any happy sense.
Since immersing himself in the game violence debate in the late 1990's, he has become the embodiment of what many gamers perceive as a lack of acceptance by non-gaming society and the mainstream media. In some ways, he seems to relish the role.
Thompson's frequent television appearances, during which he typically blames violent video games for all sorts of mayhem, have positioned him as the go-to guy when the media (primarily Fox News, of late) needs a sound bite lamenting the havoc which video games are supposedly wreaking on modern youth.
No other critic, no other watchdog, has ever come close to Thompson's recognition factor. There are gamer-created songs about the guy. Cartoons, too, as well as video skits, t-shirts, toilet paper, website parodies and Photoshop contests.
To be fair, though, Thompson works at it. His media appearances, his propensity for acid-tongued verbal attacks, his lawsuits, threats of lawsuits and incessant e-mails containing Urgent! alerts make him difficult to ignore.
So when Jack Thompson is placed on trial for professional misconduct charges by the Florida Bar, that's a big story for gamers. The stakes are obviously high for Thompson as well. Even though he has vowed to fight on if disbarred, his credibility will take an undeniable hit. Will Fox News still want a de-licensed attorney as their go-to guy? That's hard to say, but for Thompson, disbarment certainly can't be a positive outcome in any sense.
There is probably no other news outlet, gaming or otherwise, which has covered Thompson as much as GamePolitics in the three years since this site was launched. That certainly wasn't by design. But Thompson is a newsmaker in precisely the arena upon which GamePolitics focuses. And GP has a commitment to covering the news whenever, as our slogan goes, politics and video games collide.
So Thompson inevitably gets covered, sometimes to the frustration of readers. Nor has the relationship between Thompson, GamePolitics, and its readers been an especially agreeable one over the years. But when he makes GP's kind of news, we write about it. Thompson apparently appreciates - or at least covets - the coverage. He still sends us those Urgent! news releases and (as recently as yesterday) chides GP when we don't report on certain of his activities.
So, covering his Florida Bar trial was something that I considered a must for GamePolitics. Regrettably, personal circumstances precluded me from traveling to Miami for the trial, which was my original hope. As it turned out, that was probably a good thing. Although the proceedings were expected to last about a week, they ran for nearly two.
While not being able to cover the trial in person was a disappointment, I was pleased to find that at least we hadn't been scooped. There was no other coverage to speak of. The mainstream media in South Florida seemed oblivious. Fox News? Nada...
So I began to work on the next best thing to being there - acquiring transcripts of trial testimony. A call to Judge Dava Tunis' office got me the contact info for the court reporter assigned to the case. I called the reporter midway through the trial's first week. She was an extremely nice woman, although perhaps a bit surprised to hear from me. But she promised to check with Judge Tunis as to the propriety of my request and was as good as her word. Judge Tunis saw no problem with GamePolitics acquiring the transcripts (they are, after all, a matter of public record) and Thompson was made aware that I was seeking the testimony.
But court reporters make their living in part by providing transcripts for a fee. After a discussion of price, I calculated that it was cost-effective to purchase transcripts of just two of the witnesses against Thompson. While there were five whose Bar issues with Thompson originated from video game cases, I opted for Alabama attorney Clatus Junkin and Alabama Judge James Moore.
Among all of the witnesses, Moore was the one who held the most interest. He oversaw Thompson's high profile Strickland vs. Sony "GTA Killer" suit in Fayette, Alabama and was the jurist who threw Thompson off the case by revoking his pro hac vice (visiting) license to practice law in Alabama. Moore's testimony, however, was very long, stretching over two days. Trying to stay within the budget I had established, I also opted for the transcript of Alabama attorney Clatus Junkin. Junkin's testimony had the virtue of being relatively brief (and thus, not too expensive). Moreover, there was a natural tie-in with Judge Moore, since Junkin's dust-up with Thompson also related to the Alabama GTA case.
By the way, I want to mention that without ECA president Hal Halpin, this series would not have been possible. When I pitched the idea to Hal and asked that the gamer advocacy organization (which owns GamePolitics) cover the not-insignificant cost of acquiring the initial round of transcripts, he didn't hesitate. When we needed additional transcripts later, Hal insisted that the ECA cover the expense.
Now, I didn't get the transcripts immediately. Preparing them takes some time and we were up against the holiday crunch when Thompson's Bar trial ended in December. The court reporter had a well-deserved vacation scheduled, which added a bit of delay as well. As it worked out, I received the Junkin and Moore transcripts on January 2nd of this year and tore into them immediately. I quickly realized that, while they told a fascinating tale, the testimony of the other game-related witnesses was needed to offer a well-rounded picture of the Bar's case against Thompson, as least as it related to the video game sector.
So the wonderful court reporter and I were once again in contact. I worked out an arrangement with her to acquire the transcript of Judge Ronald Friedman, who presided over the infamous Bully case. I also sought the testimony of a pair of Blank Rome attorneys, James Smith and Rebecca Ward. Smith and Ward were Thompson's opposing counsel in the Alabama GTA wrongful death lawsuit. It was their motion which prompted Judge Moore to remove Thompson from the case. Since the Alabama incident, Smith, Ward and the Blank Rome firm have been frequent targets of Thompson's ire.
The three new transcripts arrived on January 16th. After a quick read, I set them aside since I knew the series wouldn't run for another couple of months. For maximum interest, I wanted The Bar Trial of Jack Thompson to appear in advance of Judge Tunis' decision in April. Ultimately, I pegged March 18th as the date on which the first episode would be published.
There were some other prosecution witnesses against Thompson whose testimony I did not seek because they had no relation to video game issues. For his part, Thompson called no witnesses. Rather he testified on his own behalf for the better part of a week. While I didn't believe purchasing Thompson's lengthy testimony would be cost-effective, I did advise him that GP's series was imminent and offered him an opportunity to comment on his trial. I also asked him if he would provide me with the text of his closing argument, as this would summarize his defense.
Thompson not only declined, he threatened me with legal action if I went ahead and published the series without including his transcripts. We had the following less-than-pleasant e-mail exchange in the run-up to the March 18th debut of the series:
GP (March 17): I will be having coverage this week of testimony from your December Bar trial. Would you care to comment? I’d be interested in the text of any closing statement you might have made.
JT (March 17): Any reportage you undertake which does not correctly depict all that happened there, will be treated as libelous and actionable. You're paying for partial transcripts at your own great risk.
GP (March 17): You are invited to comment, and I’ve asked for your closing.
JT: (March 17): I am warning you that if you have trial transcript portions to the exclusion of my portions, then you are liable.
GP: (March 17): You’re given an opportunity to address the trial, comment on the trial and provide the text of your closing.
JT (March 18): I am not giving you anything re my Bar trial, then, as anything you report will be censored by you for the purpose of harming me, as you repeatedly have done. If you report on the trial, based on a partial transcript, then you're on the hook for any failure to report on the gist of the entire transcript and the entire trial. Any real journalist would understand that, but then you're not a journalist. You're an industry flak.
GP (March 18): We’ll be reporting on your Bar trial (you’re a public figure, it’s news) despite your unwillingness to offer your side and despite your threats.
JT (March 18): Returned, unread, and sent to my "Dennis McCauley never reports the inconvenient truth" folder. I spent nine days in trial. I don't have to relive it for a twit who couldn't care less what really happened there, asshole.
GP (March 18): Well, I very much care what happened at the trial. That’s why I’m reviewing the transcripts. And I’m very interested in your side, especially your closing. That’s why I’ve asked for your comments and the text of the closing, what, four times now?
JT (March 18): It speaks for itself
Despite Thompson's threat, GamePolitics published the first installment, detailing the testimony of Clatus Junkin, as scheduled on March 18th. The following morning I received, via e-mail, a cease-and-desist demand from Thompson, which read in part:
You are running a series of “articles” at your site about my Bar trial by selectively procuring transcripts of the portions thereof that suit your purposes. You have asked for me to provide you transcripts of other portions. I neither have them nor do I have a duty to provide them if I did have them. You have, however, a duty to procure transcripts for all portions of the trial if you are to profess to be reporting on this event in a non-libelous and fair fashion. This is the first breach of your legal duties to me.
The second breach is the fact that you have prohibited me not only from posting my responses to the false and defamatory comments about me by your posters in response to the above, but you also prohibit me from accessing your site directly. This is outrageous. This is supposed to be a site at which people can post their comments. You have excluded me from the opportunity to defend myself thereat...
GP: while it's true that Thompson is banned from posting, we do let his occasional post through; any responses he attempted to post to the Bar trial series were approved and appear on GP...
You and your parent organization are now on notice that I shall prosecute this latest assault upon me to the fullest extent of the law, and I shall look not only to you but to ECA for recompense.
Not only was the threat without merit, to give into it would effectively have ceded editorial control of GamePolitics to Thompson. Not on my watch.
Since Thompson refused to provide the text of his summary or offer any comment on the trial, I went back to the unflappable court reporter one more time, this time seeking Thompson's closing argument. Although Thompson probably wouldn't admit it, I'm convinced he got a fair shake in the Bar trial coverage. The series presented not only the witnesses' testimony, but Thompson's cross examination of them as well. An entire episode was devoted to Thompson's closing argument and two others covered nothing but his cross examination of witnesses (Judge Moore and Judge Friedman). And, while we don't have Thompson's testimony, neither do we have the Bar prosecutor's cross examination of him.
There were even some moments of unexpected levity in the series. GP readers especially enjoyed the back-and-forth between Judge Moore and Thompson over a courthouse fax machine which apparently gave up the ghost under the crushing weight of Thompson's frequent messages.
So where do we go from here?
The series has generated a great deal of interest in the Thompson case, with total reader comments running into the thousands. For his part, Thompson currently has lawsuits ongoing in U.S. District Court against the Florida Bar as well as against the Florida Supreme Court, which appointed Judge Tunis to hear the case and which will ultimately act on her recommendation. Thompson has also complained that a state-mandated loyalty oath for Judge Tunis was apparently signed by someone else. It is unclear how those allegations will play out and what effect, if any, they might have on the outcome of the Bar trial.
As a journalist who has been tracking this case for a long time, I'd be extremely surprised if Judge Tunis didn't recommend that Thompson be disbarred. On the other hand, I fully expect Thompson to appeal any such decision.
Whatever happens, do not expect Thompson to give up his culture crusade. Even as a non-lawyer, he can still act on his own behalf. He knows how to file cases. And while they may be able to take away his law license, unless the Florida Bar can confiscate his PC and his fax machine, don't count on Jack Thompson going away.
At least not quietly.
Click here for the entire series: The Bar Trial of Jack Thompson...
Comments
Yes, I am.
It's really Shadow Darkman, JT's anti-thesis. I'm just playing around by posing as him, no harm intended.
As I've said before, if lawsuits were hammers, them Slappmeister Thompson would be one of the most violent men alive. A man who claims to be anti-violence then threatens all the 'kiddies' that he's going to 'destroy' Rockstar, very non-violent and non-threatening wording there Jack....
I'll say this, even if the Research were right and Video Games do cause increased aggression in young players, they'd have to play for a hell of a long time to even come close to the hatred, bitterness and all round viciousness of Jack Thompson.
I've really enjoyed this series of transcripts. In my opinion there was no editorial slant whatsoever. You never come out and say what you wish the outcome will be.
GamePolitics qualifies as journalism much more than most mass media outlets.
well what did you expect him to say "soon ill be loosing my liscense" lol
They also hired Karl Rove.
I happened to be eating at the time of reading and nearly choked in laughter after seeing this. Of course Mr. Thompson has never been especially courteous, but it still catches me by suprise. The man is an attorney and behaves like a middle school graduate.
"While personally I wouldn’t drag my family issues into a business matter the way he did here, I really don’t believe he would make that up."
I'm not heard to say I believe he made it up, either. But we are talking about a person whose listed mistatements on any number of topics strech a mile long. Time and time again, it has been found beyond reasonable doubt that something Jack said was fact just ain't so in fact. I'll spare you the long list.
I believe some but not all of Jack's mistatements spring from malice. Some, I suspect, are attributable to misinformation. Or misapprehesion. Or mild retardation. But whatever the motive, the conclusion remains that there is very little rational basis for taking a word Jack Thompson says on face value.
That's partly why the outcome of Mr. Thompson's disciplinary proceeding is of importance to the public. Because if Judge Tunis agrees, as the Bar alleges, that Mr. Thompson has not once or twice but repeatedly and cavalierly made gross self-serving mistatements and false statements, then he'll have to walk around for the rest of his natural life with that big "ZERO CREDIBILITY" sticker on his forehead. It's always in the public's interest to be able to clearly spot the bullshit artists from a mile away.
Jack's just doing what his modus operandi always calls for: spout some legal nonsense, end it with "Jack Thompson, Attorney and You're Not," and then claim that as a basis for your having to do whatever it is he wants you to do. He's as predictable as day turns to night.
And Jack wouldn't know the law of anything, libel or otherwise (and probably doesn't care to, anyway), if you whacked him upside his head with one of them big-ass books they be using in law school.
your right ooh it just hit me
"hypicrite and your not"
He's brought awareness to parents so they can protect their child from content they feel is not appropriate for them to see. He's shown that video games can corrupt the youths mind, just as MTV and most of todays TV shows have corrupted everyone elses. (seriously, up until about 10 years ago, I've never seen kids do such disgusting dancing where they're rubbing their bodies against each other etc). He has even taught parents to pay more attention to their kids and get to know them again.
It's these days where most working-class people have to work two jobs just to make ends meet. Parents aren't home enough to know and understand what their children are doing when they're not.
Up until now, parents weren't educated on what their kids COULD be playing and the affects it MIGHT have on them if they're not told, "Hey, you know this is a video game. I don't want to see you act this out, if I do, then you won't be allowed to play them anymore, and you'll not be going to your friends house to play it either."
My point is, and I hope I've stated everything here, Jack Thompson has opened up a very large door for parents. I can agree with most that some of his manners are a bit out there, but hey.. think of it this way. If a parent, such as mine or yours, can't step up and say "I don't want my kids playing these games because they're too violent." Then who else will?
Parents can stop their kids from playing games, but that doesn't stop the kid from playing them. Jack gave parents a reason to monitor their kids more closely to make sure they're not going to be raging killers.
I'm not a violent person, and I play violent video games. The only time I have ever fought, was in self-defense in 6th grade. I don't get angry, I don't get all uptight over every little thing. I'm not affiliated with gangs, or doing drugs and drinking alcohol. My family has never owned a gun, and I will never own a gun.
My closing statement will be that Jack Thompson is a good man, who was and still is being attacked by nearly every person out there. Now imagine yourself in his shoes, would you want everyone to hate you because you felt that video games are the cause of violence? Might I add that music and movies also play a big role in this, because it's all entertainment.
I refuse to attack him. I will support him and his mission, but I will do it in a different way. I will open a campaign to bring a positive awareness to parents about video games, what they are and what they could do if not under control.
It's like this in example. Marijuana, I've seen it on TV and what its effects are. People say it started off as "giving it a try" now they're hustling it to get more for themselves. It became an addiction that has -gone out of control-. Video games can be an addiction that loses control.
GP, feel free to have Jack Thompson e-mail me in comment. I'm sure he'd be willing to if he read this. :)
I hope everyone understands and we all come to terms, good terms. Please no flaming..
ive downloaded transcripts from heriet mejers (her admission attempt in to scotus) jonathon lee riches and jt
yes i am
I think you're misunderstanding why a lot of gamers are anti-Jack. It is one thing to raise awareness by saying, "Be careful about what games your children buy" and another to say, "OMG, this game kills people! It’s training players to be efficient killers! Rockstar are like miniature satans and I’m the messiah!" Which is completely untrue - and I’m walking proof of that, as well as 90% of the rest of the gaming populace. Hell, I’m afraid to pick up a gun and you’d probably have a heart-attack if you knew the kind of movies, books and games I’ve been allowed to watch/read/play since even before I was a teen.
As you say, a gamer needs some sort of stimulus to get them twisted but then, doesn’t that make the stimuli the cause and not the game?
As for parents not knowing, well, as I started this post off hinting… there are a lot of better ways to make them aware. Funnily enough, I wouldn’t be surprised if some kid’s are getting the beating of their lives after their parents see Jack Thompson’s report. Can you imagine the shock it’d give those poor parents?
“Boy, I hear you’ve been practicin’ killing people…”
“What, dahday no!”
*Pummels*
Finally, he attacks developers instead of the people who actually regulate that sort of thing, like the ESRB, retailers, etc. I don’t want to see my favourite developer go down just because Jack’s rants caused so much confusion as to make the courts actually believe the Dev’s were responsible. Sure, attack the dev for things like hot-coffee and if you lose, well, then tough, but don’t stalk them.
He was also attempting to stifle freedom of expression through his nonsense. Remember how he was trying to ban specific adult games through that whole “public nuisance” bit? So now adults can’t have games created for them?
That's all fine and good, but why the hell does it not sink through his head that him doing exactly the same thing to other people will have exactly the same lack of result?
I think you meant David Walsh. Joe Walsh was in The Eagles and a heck of a guitarist. :)
Ya gotta love love the part about:
"Without Jack throwing lawsuits at everyone, todays parents wouldn’t be given a reason to be aware of what their child is doing whether it’s watching TV or playing a video game."
At least that was good for a chuckle. More like if Jack's frivolous and bound-to-lose lawsuits that he throws at everyone weren't cluttering and clogging up the legal sytem along with all the other nut-case litigants out there, maybe -- just maybe -- a parent with a righteous wrongful death lawsuit against a drunk motorist who killed their child wouldn't have to wait 10 years to recieve compensation for their loss.
What reasoning? You came in and said nothing.
A post like "Pot calling, kettle, come in kettle" is not reasoning.
"Sorry. They have too much power NOT to be a government entity.
... Although autonomous they wield much much too much power just to be some corporation, thus they are government."
And once again I say I am wasting my breath on you. You clearly don't understand what a government entity is and refuse to budge on it despite pleas for you to do some research if you don't believe me.
At this point I'm not going to bother talking to you again. Your opinion can stay as it is if it makes you feel better. At some stage people just aren't worth correcting. Good night.
“I think the latter is more likely (company)”
So we go with utter frightening then, gotcha.
I believe I just said yes.
Which is, again, opinion, but on a large scale.
Wait no, your propaganda is working. You have convinced me that I should hand over my freedom of thought to a soulless bureaucracy. Heil FCC Heil BBFC!
Wait, no. Now I realize that that is sarcasm.
Sorry, I have no desire to be "educated" by someone who lets the BBFC do their thinking for them. If I want that information I'll get it from the BBFC directly and cut out you, the middleman.
Sad but true. Sad but true.
We really appreciate all the troubles you've had to endure to do this series. While some of it certainly gives you enough of a laugh to almost make it worthwhile, the painful parts combined with JT's childish threats nearly cancel it out as well...
All in all, I can't wait to see what hilarious, frivolous, and ridiculous tirades he'll get into when Judge Tunis's final recommendation comes out...
@Jack Thompson
Have you no sense of decency, sir?
The Presidential Primaries for example? You would have to print every speech by every candidate in every city in it's entirety. That's ridiculous...of course, ridiculousness never stopped the Jack Thompson Logic Train before!
He's always acted on his own behalf so really nothing changes.
So thank you GamePolitics for this insightful series into the twisted mind of Jack Thompson. So if there is one more I can't wait to read that also.
JT if you are reading this you had your chance to comment and all you did was throw it all away be means of legal. It's GP right to post this as is your right to say all those things you said.
Could he even be brought to task for that?
I mean, personally, i would have thought that the way he treats you Dennis, is grounds to go the florida bar alone, and make a complaint, ESPECIALLY after you gave him FOUR chances to put his side forward.
He is such a two faced, lying wretch.
I've said it before, but thanks for providing this series of articles, and a thank you to Hal for providing the funding for these articles.
They've given us an insight into the working mind of a person I personally feel is a complete and utter lunatic. Fortunately, nobody will ever accuse Jack of being a competent attorney, either.
Faux News *will* call him whatever they want, since they are always interested in blurring fiction with facts.
I think the "fax machine" bit was the best and is on its way to becoming a new meme.
Will you be reporting on the claims he's made about Judge Tunis loyalty oath and its outcome in the near future?
Great series Dennis, I would love to see more like this on other issues affecting the gaming community in the future.
Fuck you, you worthless hack your license you spent so much money and time to get is being taken away because you were a terrible lawyer.
Hope you enjoyed all your wasted effort in life..
HAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHA
Since the start of the series, I have faithfully read everything and even took the initiative of looking up the JT wikipedia entry.
That paints a more complete picture of what a misguided sleaze JT turned into. His story almost starts off as a crusader against evil who eventually gets turned to the dark side, by his own arrogance.
I say almost because his position seems to be that pop culture is the root of all modern evil. I'm suprised that idiot hasn't tried to sue the makers
of flight simulators as terrorist training tools.
JT is on par with the wacko Mom that protests military funerals and has her kids holding signs that read "God hates you."
In all fairness, you should let JT send in a statement to defend himself. I understand that blocking him from the posts is necessary, he demonstrated
what he can do to a fax machine.
This way, he is presented with an opportunity to correct any misconceptions he feels are out there against him. i.e. a litigious natured, offensive petty little man with delusions of grandeur who has no qualms with unethical behavior.