Hot off the press... Be warned - it's a 169-page pdf file.
UPDATE: In addition to her recommendation that Jack Thompson be permanently disbarred with no opportunity for reinstatement, Judge Tunis recommends an assessment of $43,675 for the costs incurred by the Florida Bar in prosecuting his case.
The report by Judge Tunis is quite lengthy. We will break it down and comment on it beginning tomorrow. For now, we will note the Judge's conclusion regarding the evidence presented at Thompson's Bar trial, as she definitely knows Jack:
The Florida Bar has recommended disbarment for a period of ten (10) years. This Court respectfully declines to follow the Bar’s recommendation... This case involves factual findings of cumulative misconduct, a repeated pattern of behavior relentlessly forced upon numerous unconnected individuals, a total lack of remorse or even slight acknowledgement of inappropriate conduct...
Additionally, the Court is taking into consideration a review of the Respondent’s conduct not only as proven by the evidence, but by what this Court has witnessed of the Respondent’s behavior throughout the eighteen (18) months of litigation. The undersigned finds no evidence whatsoever to indicate that the Respondent is amenable to rehabilitation, or even remotely appreciates the basis upon which a need or purpose for such rehabilitation is warranted...
Over a very extended period of time involving a number of totally unrelated cases and individuals, 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, but rather uses other means available to intimidate, harass, or bring public disrepute to those whom he perceives oppose him.
Thus, after careful consideration of the underlying facts in the instant cases, together with the Florida Standards for Imposing Lawyer Sanctions, the applicable aggravating and mitigating factors and the precedent case law, this Court makes the following recommendations for John Bruce Thompson:
A. Permanent disbarment, with no leave to reapply for admission.
B. Disciplinary costs currently totaling $43,675.35.
Comments
To the surprise of absolutely no one.....
On another note...... HA.
I disagree, i am quite surprised in this. While i'm also overjoyed, I say again that this comes as quite a surprise. To see the Bar get an official recomendation to disbar anyone FOREVER... well it's not quite unprecedented, but it's certainly precedent setting, anyway.
Perhaps no surprise was a bit much. After all, a ten year disbarment was good enough for me. But considering his actions toward Judge Tunis up 'till now.....
Well, you reap what you sow. Enjoy your "vacation" Jack.
I think Attack of the Show said it best when they said.....
EPIC FAIL!!!!
Am I the only one concerned by this? Without a day job, Jack will be on GP 24/6 (have to put aside a day for church, right?) harassing the heck out of Dennis. Have we set the beast free, so to speak?
"Am I the only one concerned by this? Without a day job, Jack will be on GP 24/6 (have to put aside a day for church, right?) harassing the heck out of Dennis. Have we set the beast free, so to speak?"
I believe it's called a "ban". :P
But he might su-- oh wait.
Definetly looking forward to a "No-Jackspin" zone :P
It's a damn nice surprise.
I understand now what it is to love.
169 pages? My work server won't load anything like that. I'll have to wait for the analysis, or until I'm home for the evening.
In any case, the simple fact that it's so long probably means it's thorough. No loopholes, no points left unresearched.
With the flood of releases from Jack today, I'd say he's trying to get one final word in before his legal tongue is wrenched from his mouth.
It's all text, no pictures, so it comes in under 1 MB of data.
-- If your wiimote goes snicker-snack, check your wrist-strap...
Yeah, unlike Johnny Brucie, this judge doesn't go around slapping random images throughout the legal paperwork.
you mean pictures like gay pr0n and a bombed out building and claiming the bar will "figuratively" look like if he is to be disbarred
Somehow I don't think they're too fazed by that 'threat' XD
(Would you be? :P)
After reading the entire report I find that what little I had read in the news didn't begin to tell the real story.
I thought vaguely that he might be an over zealous fundamentalist crusader against porn and a responsible adult trying to look after the children.
Once I concluded the report though it became obvious that at the very least, he has lost touch with honesty and is way into the end justifies the means, no matter who he has to slander.
While disbarring him will help to protect the court system from him, I am a little worried for the rest of us. As a Christian I have decided to pray for him. He is mentally ill and needs some help. Counseling would be good. Medications might help.
I am afraid that with as little self control and as out of touch with reality as he is, we will be hearing more about him sometime soon. I just hope he doesn't hurt anyone else.
He's not really mentally ill, on the contrary he's the only "Certified Sane Lawyer" in Florida.... Well, he used to be.
Yes, I'm sorry, but the "news" like Fox and CNN (or 60 Minutes
) don't begin to tell the story on this guy. He does what he can to vilify any who oppose him so he can dismiss it when they point out what he is doing. First he throws out how he get death threats phoned to him 24 hours a day by gamers. I don't know about you, but I just don't care about the man enough to bother calling him. I'm fairly sure it's exagerated and happens no more then any other public figure who posts their home phone everywhere he can. Then every officer, judge, or lawyer that disagrees with him or fights against him in court is obviously being bribed by the industry.
The average John Q. Public only hears about him once in a while, so they don't have any reference when he makes his claims of corruption, they sound plausible. But if you see what has been happening for a decade, the pieces start to fit together and a clearer picture can be seen.
In the end, his story may come out. Who knows, it may even be on 60 Minutes. When they show all of his allegations, his trial record, his public statements after every tragety, perhaps the real story will be aired.
We can only hope that it doesn't have a tragic ending.
Such is the eventual fate of all ultra- conservatives. The philosphoy they subscribe to refuses to let them adapt, and so they die.
Extremism is general tends to not be a good thing. Ultra-conservatives do not own that title exclusively.
"I'm not responcabel fer my comuter's spleling errnors." -- Xlorep DarkHelm
All of the Ultras will die off. The ultra liberals, the ultra conservatives, the ultra blah blah blahs. Gotta love it. Extinction.
-If shit and bricks were candy and tits, we'd all be livin' large. For information on games and psychology, look up: Jonathan Freedman(2002)Block & Crain(2007)Grand Theft Childhood, by Harvard Medical School researchers Larry Kutner and Cheryl Olson
Negative, they are only replaced by other extremists.
(Whistles) I have often wondered how the bloomin' hell one could not take something like this as a sign that you need to re-evaluate your tactics. How....if I was a lawyer, wouldn't I want to AVOID leaving a swath of pissed-off judges in my wake?
I'm starting to think it's not just gamers. I'm starting to think the legal community is getting tired of his little human freakshow. If this keeps up, in a couple weeks, law enforcement is gonna get tired of it.
And thank god... for the longest time I thought JT's brand of strident banter only offended gamers... like a dog whistle... cuz why was it making us all angry and surley, and not fox news, hillary clinton, and Utah State?
Glad to know us gamers aren't he only one who understand what makes jack, jack.
i don't want to sound repetitive but...
this IS Jack Thompson we're talking about?
the guy who does everything with all brute no... errr... you get the idea...
Wow, a court official completing their assignment EARLY? I guess there wasn't much "deliberation" needed when the facts stack up like they do in this case. Considering his treatment of her, I wonder if she was giggling as she finished it. And now for the long wait as the final judgement is handed down.
I want to see Thompson disbarred as much as the next guy, but making him pay the fees associated with this, isn't that a little steep? Unless Im missing something
Considering how much he's harrassed everyone involved with the proceedings (including the Judge herself), I'd be more surprised that he wasn't charged with paying all the fees.
"I'm not responcabel fer my comuter's spleling errnors." -- Xlorep DarkHelm
She recommends he be on the hook for $43,000 in court costs...
-- If your wiimote goes snicker-snack, check your wrist-strap...
I just read that too! And if he doesn't pay the $43k, he ". . . will be deemed delinquent and ineligible to practice law. . ."
Not really, like others have pointed out there is the court's time & resources he as wasted, and because he represents a fool for a client he hasn't had to pay for any of it.
Serves him right, all his other harassing lawsuits were essentially on the house because he didn't have the burden of paying himself and the opposition was the one spending the money.
I think I recall somewhere he even admits that part of his strategy for putting these "unethical" companies out of business is harassment via the courts and wasting these companies time & resources...
Funny how when he does it he gets disbarred and pays costs and when the Clinton administration stated the same thing was their goal with gun companies. They were applauded by the liberals. I guess if you use other peoples money to do it then it is ok.
Background, HUD(housing and urban development) sued all the major gun manufacturers supposedly for costs related to gun crime. Instead of one lawsuit which the gun manufacturers could afford to defend, HUD filed separate suits in every major city. The Clinton administration acknowledged that they filed suit in separate cities to bankrupt these "unethical" businesses by wasting their time and resources. Smith & Wesson settled out of court and agreed to stop selling firearms to the public because of this tactic and got preference for Gov't contracts. It almost worked with the other companies.
Can't get the constitution changed? Sue whom ever is enabling that right using Gov't tax dollars. Or in this loser's case your own money.
And your unhinged screed has WHAT to do with all this?
granted but you have to take in to consideration the ammount of CRAP he has spwed on pretty much everyone, not to mention the "fax machine" slaughter...
Look Jack has done plenty wrong but this is a lot of money and he has a family, just seems like twisting the knife. If this was anyone else I'm sure many readers here would agree.
I have a strong intuition that he has made a lot of money from his propaganda. $43k is decent.
Don't worry about that. He has his wife who is also a lawyer, and not an extremist anti-video game activist. So he'll be able to eat. And 20/20 will want to talk to him about Grand Theft Auto 5 or whatever. He's just been neutered.
Let's look at in legal terms. I actually don't think it covers the time of the other lawyers or other people who Jack has purposefully wasted time of. That isn't that much money, lawyers play for higher stakes then we do.
As for him not having enough money, there are two ways to look at it.
1. That's about 5 MP3's by RIAA standards.
2. I hear he has a 10 million dollar lawsuit in the pipes which I'm sure will be a slam dunk for him.
Jack, I neither know nore care if you read this, but...
YOU FAIL!!!
I wanna see the Big Guy get you out of this. I really do, because from my perspective, I have heard him say over and over for you to just shut up and go quietly. Just... do as he says already, and do us all, even the kids you claim to be fighting for, a favor.
I AM A LOST SOUL, CONDEMNED TO HAUNT THE DREAMS OF JOHN BRUCE "JACK" THOMPSON UNTIL HIS CRUSADE AGAINST VIDEO GAMES ENDS. SOMEONE, PLEASE! END MY SUFFERING!
There's only one phrase that can appropriately describe my current emotions: Giddy as a schoolgirl.
-"A fanatic is one who can't change his mind and won't change the subject." -Sir Winston Churchill
(that will probably be pre-empted and outdone by GP, but hey)
First thing of interest: The full list of witnesses:
During the Final Hearing, the Court received sworn testimony
from the following Florida Bar’s witnesses: The Honorable James Moore,
Circuit Judge, Twenty-Fourth Judicial Circuit, Fayette County, Alabama
(appearing pursuant to subpoena, as required by the Code of Judicial
Conduct); James T. Smith, Esquire, a partner at Blank Rome LLP,
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; The Honorable Clatus Junkin, Acting Retired
Circuit Judge for the State of Alabama and a practicing attorney; Rebecca D.
Ward, Esquire, a partner at Blank Rome LLP, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania;
The Honorable Ronald M. Friedman, Circuit Court Judge, Eleventh Judicial
Circuit of Florida (also appearing pursuant to subpoena); Lawrence A.
Kellogg, Esquire, a partner at Tew Cardenas LLP, Miami, Florida; and
Alberto Cardenas, Esquire, a partner at Tew Cardenas LLP, Miami, Florida.
The Court also received sworn testimony during the Respondent’s case,
from the Respondent, John B. Thompson, Esquire.
I liked footnote number 8 beginning on page 39:
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’; ...
Yay for text-only. I thought it would be a huge file, but it's less than 1MB...
-- If your wiimote goes snicker-snack, check your wrist-strap...
Wow, I never knew he wasn't even legitimatelly on the Strickland case when he was on 60 minutes. Jack, you lied to 60 minutes- which you often trott out as your greatest moment. LOL
Dennis, what kind of trick are you trying to pull. This is just typical misdirection and bashing I see time after time on this site that you personally propogate. I am sick of the bias I see here this is the last straw.
If thats a real legal document then I'm the last king of Scotland. Where are the pictures and the barbed comments? I did not count a single insult or veiled threat. No where did the Judge mention any TV appearances she made or any prior documents she published. It read so clinical, wheres the emotion and virtol. This has been clearly made as a spoof.
Now granted, my knowledge of legal documents is limited to the ones Jack has filed but I assume all other documents must be written in the same style.
I will never post or read this site again.
Never ever ever.
You sir win the internet congratulations.
And what happened to all the gay porn? How can this elitist hack of a judge pretend to be saying anything worthwhile if she doesn't include hot man on man action to illustrate her point! People might not understand what she is trying to say without it!
And nothing of value was lost.
Chris 'coldacid' Charabaruk <coldacid.net>
IGDA Indie SIG Coordinator, Programmer, Designer
I guess you missed the overall sarcasm in the post you quoted? ;-)
*~~ <----- My Post: WOOOOOOOSSSHHH!!
O <---- Your head
I was slow and tired when I posted. Now that I'm wide awake again, I see what you did there...
Chris 'coldacid' Charabaruk <coldacid.net>
IGDA Indie SIG Coordinator, Programmer, Designer
:)
LOL!!! Ok that is awesome! I just about gave my monitor a shower!
Still text animation ftw!
-Loudspeaker
"Volume helps to get a point across but sharp teeth are better."
ASCII THREAD CONFIRMED
lol....
Ok Jack, see you later on here.
[QUOTE]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 Clinton’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 Lowensteindescribed
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.[/QUOTE]
AHAHAHAHHAHAHSKLDBALSKDHFBALSDHFDHASVF
I've been reading this for about 20 minutes and all I can say is WOW......
JT is a certified lunatic
Wow
-- If your wiimote goes snicker-snack, check your wrist-strap...
If that's not evidence that he's not going to change his ways, even if it might help save his career, I don't know what is.
-"A fanatic is one who can't change his mind and won't change the subject." -Sir Winston Churchill
I hear a sigh of relief from the bar's fax machines.
“[a]ll communications and filings by the parties shall be sent by United States mail henceforth. The parties are not to fax each other herein.”
I feel a great disturbance in the Force...as if millions of mailmen suddenly cried out in terror.
Not as much as those fax machines are crying in relief.
100 page fax to a local number - free
100 page package through the mail - $5-25 depending on how fast he wants to get it there.
Even a few page submission (5-10 pages) would cost him $1-25 (again, depending on how fast he wanted it to get there.)
Multiply that by 500 submissions over the course of the proceedings, and we have a serious chunk of change being paid out for his "rants".
-- If your wiimote goes snicker-snack, check your wrist-strap...
Yeah, I feel bad for the trees though. So much for being enviromentally friendly.
The same number of trees get used either way. It's just that with US mail, Jack's the one paying to print all the pages, instead of the owner of the recipient fax machine.
What little experience I have had with the lawyers taught me that they charge a few dollars every time they have to copy a document, and each of those documents had to get copied a few times and sent around. The document fees were the lions share of the financial aspect.
wow... $23,000 in transcript charges!
Here are we -- and yonder yawns the universe.
Sounds very similar to the language they use up here in Canada for "Dangerous Offender" status, ie "keep him in jail until he rots" type sentencing... "no remorse", "no acknowledgement of guilt", "no hope of rehabilitation", "no understanding of what the law is", etc.
And a final kick in the pants:
$43,675 in fees to be charged to Jack, including $1,460 in copy costs. I wonder how much of that was for a new fax machine. ;)
-- If your wiimote goes snicker-snack, check your wrist-strap...
Its good to see money coming out of his pocket. It wouldnt be fair to see the tax payers pay for all of his disgusting behavior. (is that the full amout...not really sure?)
"The world if full of stupid people....watch out."
I dunno... I feel like I'd be cool with throwing in $5 to the "GoodBye JT. Don't let the door bump you on the ass on the way out" fund.
I almost want to make a fund or something to see something even more epic come out of this already amazing story arc
If the Supreme Court goes ahead with Tunis' recommendation, it looks like the wifey will have to fork over
43 thousand dollars in disciplinary charges.
Oh wait, Jack can pay it off with his book sales! I believe he mentioned that he had a book...
"I lost my train of thought... I wrote a book..."
-"A fanatic is one who can't change his mind and won't change the subject." -Sir Winston Churchill
don't link to files on your hard disk, other people can't see them.
岩「…Ace beats Jack」
Page 167 was the best part of the whole report, where the Honorable Judge Tunis rejects 10 year disbarrment and suggests lifetime disbarrment. Judge Tunis, I salute you and think you are an absolute credit to moral integrity and intelligence in the legal system.
I guess we now wait for his delcaration of victory.
ANd, he was never even supposed to be on the Alabama case to begin with? Wow, what a leach
It's a little more technically than that. More like there was a time when his application for admission to the case wasn't yet approved by Judge Moore (although it ultimately was). It was during this period in which he wasn't yet admitted to the case that he was runing his mouth and falsely telling anyone who would listen that he was an attorney admitted to the case. And, when Judge Moore finally disbarred him as an attorney from the case, he also ran his mouth and falsely told anyone who would listen that he was still an attorney admitted to the case. That's, in part, what's he's been found guilty of: lying about his status as an attorney on the case.
I think I just fell in love with Dava Tunis.
Saved the pdf file. I'll be enjoying it later.
Mr. Thompson, you're a stone's throw away from done.
You have been weighed.
You have been measured.
And you ABSOLUTELY have been found wanting.
Welcome to the new world. God save you, should he find it right to do so.
I probably bastardized the last part of that, but whatever.
David Gagnon, Mature Human Being, and John Bruce isn't.
I don't know what "should he find it right to do so" is in the actual quote from A Knight's Tale, but what you put instead fits what a lot of people will probably say to Jack after he is disbarred and can't do sh** about them.
I AM A LOST SOUL, CONDEMNED TO HAUNT THE DREAMS OF JOHN BRUCE "JACK" THOMPSON UNTIL HIS CRUSADE AGAINST VIDEO GAMES ENDS. SOMEONE, PLEASE! END MY SUFFERING!
OUCH. The fine of over $43,000 is the real kicker, especially since Jack has implied that he's more or less broke. Getting disbarred forever seems lucky in comparison.
I am thrilled that this horrible man is getting his comuppance, BUT... what will happen to his wife and son? As far as I know they've not played any part in this, so I hope they escape to safety somehow.
His wife is actually a very successful attorney from all accounts.
E. Zachary Knight
www.editorialgames.com
Oklahoma City Chapter of the ECA
MySpace Page: http://www.myspace.com/okceca
Facebook Page: http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1325674091
INSANELY successful, which is why it baffles me how she ended up with such a fanatic.
Well, for one thing, he does have a more civil persona other than the vitriolic one which he unleashes upon his opponents.. He's also still human, he probably has something which can attract an intelligent and capable woman in his own right..
That said, I'm rather baffled why he has to choose using an excessively antagonistic attitude towards his opponents.. Doesn't charm actually work better anyway?
Jack's mental state has deteriorated at an exponential rate these past couple of years. At some point in the distant past when he was more stable (guessing pre-1971 since that's when "Computer Space" came out) she clearly saw something in him, and apparently still does. I have to admire her sticking by him after everything he's put them through.
If you want to avoid notice to your own actions, stand someone up in front of you that refuses to be ignored.
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA




HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
linking to local moz-screenshots, whatever they are = fail
岩「…Ace beats Jack」
Jack Thompson: Fission Mailed
Wouldn't that make him a mail bomber?
"I'm not responcabel fer my comuter's spleling errnors." -- Xlorep DarkHelm
I'm gonna assume you don't know about that and ask you the question below.
Have you ever played Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty for the PS2 all the way to the end?
I AM A LOST SOUL, CONDEMNED TO HAUNT THE DREAMS OF JOHN BRUCE "JACK" THOMPSON UNTIL HIS CRUSADE AGAINST VIDEO GAMES ENDS. SOMEONE, PLEASE! END MY SUFFERING!
Actually, that would be kind of fun.
Nice MGS reference.
This is win.
I'm up to page 80. Need to agree with Dennis. It's a remarkable document.
Taking a break and I'll get back to it soon.
To John B. Thompson:
CAN YOU SSSSSSSSSMMMMMMMMMMEEEEEEEEELLLLLLLLLLLLL WHAT THE JUDGE IS COOKIN'???????
Did anyone else notice this hilarious excerpt? I absolutely LOVE this:
Ironically, when the 60 Minutes story including Mr. Thompson aired on March
6, 2005, his “Statement” for Pro Hac Vice had not been date stamped into the
Fayette County, Alabama Clerk’s Office. See Bar Ex. 3. In fact, it was not until
March 22, 2005, that Judge Moore even granted Mr. Thompson’s request for
Admission Pro Hac Vice to practice as an attorney in Alabama in the Strickland
case. See Bar Ex. 4. Thus, as an aside, Mr. Thompson not only went on a
nationally televised news show and held himself out to be an attorney in
Strickland, when in fact, that permission had not yet been granted to him by Judge
Moore or the State of Alabama, but he likewise has years later repeatedly
continued in various missives, faxes, filings and court pleadings to wear his
appearance on 60 Minutes as counsel in Strickland, as a veritable badge of honor.
However, it has not been known until this evidence was reviewed, that it is clear he
was not even an attorney pro hac vice in Alabama, and therefore not counsel of
record in Strickland, when he participated in the interview. As will be outlined
herein, the evidence supports this type of similarly misleading conduct, premised
on falsities, that is frequently repeated without purpose, through many of Mr.
Thompson’s actions.
Hear that? JT's much lauded 60 Minutes appearance was a sham, too, and not just because of the videogame angle. Aw Jeah.
OMFGWTFBBQ?????!!!!
So Thompson´s only big archivement was like a cake... a lie????
LEGENDARY FAIL... not epic, but LEGENDARY!
The cynical side of videogames (spanish only): http://thelostlevel.blogspot.com/ My DeviantArt Page (aka DeviantCensorship): http://www.darkknightstrikes.deviantart.com/
Now THAT'S funny, the very core of his claim to fame is based on a falsehood, actually, that's more than funny, he's everything he claimed everyone else was.
Oh, and I think the site is about to be Slashdotted judging by the server response, so I'll see you all in about 12 hours ;)
Slashdotted? WTF does that mean?
I AM A LOST SOUL, CONDEMNED TO HAUNT THE DREAMS OF JOHN BRUCE "JACK" THOMPSON UNTIL HIS CRUSADE AGAINST VIDEO GAMES ENDS. SOMEONE, PLEASE! END MY SUFFERING!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slashdot_effect
Swing and a miss. Strike One.
I AM A LOST SOUL, CONDEMNED TO HAUNT THE DREAMS OF JOHN BRUCE "JACK" THOMPSON UNTIL HIS CRUSADE AGAINST VIDEO GAMES ENDS. SOMEONE, PLEASE! END MY SUFFERING!
Yeah, a similar result to the ScreenSavers effect., where every time they mention a website on their live show, it would invariably crash.
I was happy he was facing ten years..this is just an extra treat
NEW GAMER HOLIDAY
09/07/08 Nevar Forget
This is just the judge's recommendation. He hasn't been disbarred yet.
But this is wonderful news. Someone has OFFICIALLY proclaimed Jack Thompson to be the phony hack he truly is.
I agree, this should become JPDR-day
Jack's Permanent Disbarment Recommendation Day
Unless someone has a better name for this stupendous achievement
Gaming Rights Day?
I AM A LOST SOUL, CONDEMNED TO HAUNT THE DREAMS OF JOHN BRUCE "JACK" THOMPSON UNTIL HIS CRUSADE AGAINST VIDEO GAMES ENDS. SOMEONE, PLEASE! END MY SUFFERING!
Oh, if only the report had been published a few days earlier!
Then the whole gaming world could celebrate July 4th too!
I see your point, but I don't think any of the courts would've been open that day.
Aaron "BlueWolf72" Molloy
Can we take bets on what JT's new job would be to make money?
@GP:
My thanks to you for making available the Referee's Report and for all your other coverage of The Jack Thompson Train Wreck. I know it's neither easy nor cheap to get a hold of some of the documents and trancripts you've made available to your readers and I do appreciate your effort and outlay.
Very much seconded. Thank you. And thanks to JackDon'tKnowJack for giving what seems to have been a Florida attorney's view on this whole train wreck. This California attorney greatly appreciated the context.
Does anyone know a sky writer in Florida? Surely someone could fly over his house and paint "EPIC FAIL" in the clouds on the day he's disbarred?!
Set up a fund. I'll pay to see this happen.
Seconded.
I AM A LOST SOUL, CONDEMNED TO HAUNT THE DREAMS OF JOHN BRUCE "JACK" THOMPSON UNTIL HIS CRUSADE AGAINST VIDEO GAMES ENDS. SOMEONE, PLEASE! END MY SUFFERING!
I think it'd be more appropriate to write something like this...
"YOU FAIL IT.
YOUR SKILL IS NOT ENOUGH
SEE YOU NEXT TIME
BYE-BYE!"
Game over, Jack!
It's sad to see a man run his career into the ground like this. I wonder if he'll ever be mature enough to reflect on his actions with regret.
I doubt it. In his mind, he is the victim in all this and has not done anything wrong.
"The world if full of stupid people....watch out."
Judging from what we've seen from JT here on GP and other sites, I wouldn't consider that likely at all.
It appears as if he is completely unable to recognise that he has made a mistake or behaved inappropriately in any given situation. Its never connected to him, its always someone else who is to blame.
That will also be true here, he will never admit defeat, never surrender, never quit. That's what scares me about JT to be honest, his utter relentlessness, atleast his influence will be neutered somewhat when this recommendation is followed.
I am in awe. I have been following the activities of JBT for a couple of years (Since the end of Howard Stern) but had no idea just how much of a complete and total idiot jackie is. Well no I had some idea (hard not to) but the confirmed paper (fax, mail, email etc) trail proof of it is... impressive and heavy enough to bury a fool alive.
Tis a pity wackie jackie I had expected more out of you for all your ego and boasting. Well no not really but trying to be nice even to you, like most posting types here I knew better. Ah well.
Over a very extended period of time involving a number of totally unrelated cases and individuals, 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, but rather uses other means available to intimidate, harass, or bring public disrepute to those whom he perceives oppose him.
While I know you are going to go through it(I suggest just to make it a update to this article to calm those "STOP GIVING HIM ATTENTION WITH ALL THESE STORIES" posters), that bit is pretty much all that needs to be said.
As an attorney and a gamer, I am of several minds on this one.
First, there is an incredible outpouring of sheer, uncompromising "Ha, ha!" The game industry and video game culture's chief antagonist got very publicly slammed. Now, he's not down yet, as the FL Sup. Ct. still needs to check the appropriate boxes, but he's on the ropes and staggering. As a gamer, remember today. Today is a good day.
Second, this is a reminder that, as ill-favored as lawyers are by the rest of society, the worst of our breed do get removed by the rest of the profession and that, as a whole, we're at least trying to be good people. While it's fair to question how often it happens, we do police our own ranks. The Bar trial and Judge Tunis' report hopefully sheds some light on this process and all of its perhaps-flawed machinery. We too are disgusted by this man's actions, we too are horrified by the filth he has spewed, and we too want to see an end put to it. But did the Florida Bar wait too long before going after Jack? Yes, it probably did. He's ruined lives and cloaked himself in the garb as an officer of the court for more than a decade. I believe there are serious, founded Bar complaints about Jack going back to the early 90s. Taking action then would have benefitted the profession and society as a whole. However, Bar prosecutors have other cases. Lawyers steal from clients. Clients falsely accuse lawyers of stealing from them. These are Bar cases with more concrete outcomes that may have taken precedent. It's unfortunate that we have had to deal with Wacko Jacko for so long, but part of the reason we have had to do so is that he's just so far out there, so far beyond any of the "normal" disciplinary actions, that I suspect that the Florida Bar prosecutors office couldn't quite make out what to do about the man. It took the complaints of multiple judges and "respected" attorneys to finally compel them into action. Is it right? No, not really. JackDon'tKnowJack pointed this out most forcefully months ago, and he's absolutely right. It shouldn't matter who makes the complaint, but it did. This isn't right, and the Florida Bar owes a lot to Jack's very real victims as a result. But now it's all but over. Sure, as above, the Supreme Court has to sign off on Judge Tunis' report. It's spectacularly unlikely that it will do anything but, though, considering that it has been the recipient of Jack's pornographic onslaught. Jack Thompson, Attorney, is consigned to the dust heap.
Here's the other side of it, though. For a professional, this is like looking into the abyss. This is, quite literally, the worst fate possible for the title of attorney. Jack as a guy will walk away the same as he walked in (apparently unshaven), but Jack Thompson, Attorney got burned. Bad. He won't just be legendary in gaming circles for his rise and fall, but this report, or exerpts thereof, will be standard fodder in Florida law school ethics classes (required by law, by the way - all of us take ethics after Watergate) for a generation. His name will be used as a shorthand for an impossible meltdown of a professional career. "Hey, did you hear about that guy out in Albany? He's in danger of getting Thompson'ed." That, more than anything else, will be Jack's legacy. His name will be synonymous with downfall, with the public, humiliating end of a career in a profession that many of us feel called to as powerfully as any who take the priest's collar or the soldier's gun. Jack Thompson, Attorney, has given way to Jack Thompson, Disgrace.
And you can't look too deeply into the abyss without getting that prickling sense that somewhere in its black malevolence, it's looking back at you. Anybody with an ounce of empathy and a Bar card winced a little when they read this report. It's a rebuttal and effectively an endcap to his life's work. Nobody wants that. Frankly, I couldn't have wished this on Jack. It's not funny, it's not fair comeuppance, and it's not karma. Nobody deserves this at the point in their days in which they are looking back at their careers more than they are looking forward. Don't point and laugh too hard without considering this. God forbid, we could all be him, blinded by our causes and unable to comprehend just what we have done in their defense.
I agree, there is room for some pity here, sometimes I felt like screaming 'For God's sake, man, just stop!', not because he was a threat, but because it was actually painful to watch him not only reach the sanity event-horizon, but cross it at full steam.
No-one deserves to end their career like this, I'll agree, but still I find it hard to sympathise with the man. Maybe, once his license is removed, I'll have time to think more deeply on his plight as a person, but right now, whilst he wields that law license like a baseball bat, I cannot help thinking of those he has attacked and insulted over the years, whether he ever stopped to consider their families and livelihoods before sending off all those Emails, Faxes and letters. He fully expects people to consider his family when he is under attack, but how much time did he spend considering other peoples?
I'll agree, he's finished, and yes, maybe in the future he needs to get some help, but, from my perspective, the first priority is to stop the damage he's doing to himself, to his opponents and to the legal profession in general.
No-one deserves to end their career like this
I'm going to have to disagree here, unfortunately there are folks who deserve this. Jack is one of them, and I do pity him for it, but I won't say that it is undeserved, or unjust. What folks deserve and what they might like or want are not the same thing. What one sdeserves sometimes isn't kind, and often isn't delivered. But that doesn't change what is deserved.
I doubt this is much of an 'end' for him. His success at practicing law has been dropping for years now so it probably was not much of a career at this point. What it will be is a potential springboard for milking groups like that freedom festivil or the eagel council (or whatever they are called).
There is a certain segment of american culture that loves to think of themselves as persecuted and they might flock to JT. If he plays his cards right (which is doubtful) he could use this disgrace to actually get some real power.