In a four-page written order (download here), the Florida Supreme Court today affirmed a referee's recommendation to permanently disbar controversial Miami attorney Jack Thompson.
The action, which takes effect in 30 days, means that Thompson will no longer be licensed to practice law and may not apply for reinstatement. Ever.
In citing a litany of offenses, the Court noted Thompson's extensive pattern of misconduct and cited a "complete lack of remorse." The Court also quoted extensively from the June, 2008 report of Judge Dava Tunis, who served as referee at Thompson's November, 2007 trial on charges brought by the Florida Bar:
In her report, the referee states: Over a very extended period of time involving a number of totally unrelated cases and individuals, [r]espondent 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.
Noting that "The Court concludes that the facts, as even more extensively detailed in the referee's report, support the referee's numerous recommendations as to guilt," the justices of the Florida Supreme Court affirmed Thompson's offenses as delineated by Judge Tunis.
Some of these include findings that Thompson made false statements and accusations, repeatedly harassed those he considered opponents, and, while falsely accusing others of "the criminal distribution of sexual materials to minors," himself attached pornography to court filings.
- [Thompson] made false statements of material fact to courts and repeatedly violated a court order
- [Thompson] communicated the subject of representation directly with clients of opposing counsel
- [Thompson] engaged in prohibited ex parte communications
- [Thompson] publicized and sent hundreds of pages of vitriolic and disparaging missives, letters, faxes, and press releases, to the affected individuals
- [Thompson] targeted an individual who was not involved with respondent in any way, merely due to "the position [the individual] holds in state and national politics"
- [Thompson]falsely, recklessly, and publicly accused a judge as being amenable to the "fixing" of cases
- [Thompson] sent courts inappropriate and offensive sexual materials
- [Thompson] falsely and publicly accused various attorneys and their clients of engaging in a
conspiracy/enterprise involving "the criminal distribution of sexual materials to minors" and attempted to get prosecuting authorities to charge these attorneys and their clients for racketeering and extortion - [Thompson] harassed the former client of an attorney in an effort to get the client to use its influence to persuade the attorney to withdraw a defamation suit filed by the attorney against respondent
- [Thompson] retaliated against attorneys who filed Bar complaints against him for his unethical conduct by asserting to their clients, government officials, politicians, the media, female lawyers in their law firm, employees, personal friends, acquaintances, and their wives, that the attorneys were criminal pornographers who objectify women.
The Court also upheld a fine of $43,675 against Thompson.
For his part, Thompson offered his standard-issue bluster, announcing his disbarment in an e-mail which carried the subject line "Now the Fun Begins." Thompson has also filed a request with the U.S. District Court for an emergency stay of the FLSC's order disbarring him.
Comments
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Hahaha! This couldn't possibly be any more delicious! You knew it jack, you knew it was coming!
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I'd say I cared, Jack, but one if the things I am not is a liar.
Suck it, you corpse.
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So the long awaited ending to the hilarious saga of Jackass Thompson's political career. Its not like your average Joe couldn't see this coming from 4000 miles away, and honestly, its about damn time. God Bless AMERICA, FLORIDA, AND OUR JUSTICE SYSTEM!
HOOAH!
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Its over its all over!!!!!
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Today is my birthday, and I have just returned home from classes to see this.
Could it be any more perfect? Is this a great world or what?
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Happy Birthday to you! Happy Birthday to you! Happy Birthday, dear HurricaneJesus! Happy Birthday to yoouu!
Now blow out the candles and make a wish!....Or has your wish already come true?
Game on, brothers and sisters.
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I never even considered this would happen today of all days. I was just about to settle in with some Grolsch and play some Pure and Duke Nukem 3D(XBLA version), but decided to check gp first. Now I don't feel bad about starting my drinking at 2 in the afternoon.
Thanks for the kind words.
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And he never came up with a single defense for his actions.
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FUCKING GAME OVER.
The cynical side of videogames (spanish only): http://thelostlevel.blogspot.com/ My DeviantArt Page (aka DeviantCensorship): http://www.darkknightstrikes.deviantart.com/
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Amen brother!
Preach it!!
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I KNEW there was a reason for registration for comments.
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Quite frankly I'm shocked. Utterly shocked it took this long for this to happen. I hate to sound like an unsypmathetic p@%#^, but after all the lying, deceiving, insults, under-handed tactics, threats on our rights, freedoms and, at times, even our lives this couldn't have happened to anyone more deserving.
I can only hope when that Penn & Teller episode airs, as JT spews his nonsense they cut in with something like "By the way, did we mention this asshole was disbarred for, among other things, knowingly and repeatedly presenting false information as truth? Yeah, the guy lost his job for being a consumate liar, or as we prefer, bullshiter!"
To answer JT's question "Is this a great conutry or what?"...Yes it is, it truly is.
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YEAH!
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MWAHAHAHA, finally... I hope everyone has their fax machines offline because they're going to die if Jack gets your number...
I guess he could always be a Wal-Mart greeter... *Imagines Jack as a Wal-Mart Greeter and the ensuing hilarity.*
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I was reading this at school, and I absolutley freaked out!! This is a good day, mark this on your gamer clender as Jack Thompon's DISBARRED Day!!
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I like how he's still doing this: "JOHN B. THOMPSON, Plaintiff
Attorney, Florida Bar #231665"
As if nothing ever happened... and as if it changes a goddamn thing.
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The wicked witch is dead! All hail Dava!
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Yes!! Rock on! \m/ {>.<} \m/
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No one can say that they didn't see this coming. Thompson's behaviour was reprehensible and, according to the ruling, against the rules of the bar. Therefore the only thing they could do at this point was dibar him permanently.
Of course we're going to see a volcanic repsonse from Thompson. After all this is just going to be one more bit of proof to him of some vast conspiracy directed at Jack Thompson.
It's ironic that a man who wanted his legacy to be that he was the man who destroyed the gaming industry will, in fact, be remembered as man who acted like a jerk to anyone who dared disagree with him. He'll be remembered as an example to other lawyers of what can happen when you forget the first rule of the fanatic, "when you become obsessed with the enemy you become the enemy."
In the end though I take no pleasure in what's happening to Thompson, I pity him. I pity him because he's so full of anger and outrage that he's missing the point and, to me anyway, that's the saddest thing of all. This is not to say that he shouldn't face the consequences of his actions, far from it. If he's half the man he claims he is then he'll accept this ruling and live with it; of course we all know that's not the case.
He'll whine and scream about the injustice of it all and lay the blame of his own actions at the feet of everyone but himself; because nothing is ever his fault.
At any rate many thanks to the Flordia Supreme Court. This was long over due and maybe now Thompson can get a full time gig on Fox News like he seems to want. Afterall he is their go to "first ammendment expert."
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Although I don't fully agree with your feelings (I'm flying higher than a kite), I can understand where your pity is coming from. Watching someone utterly destroy themselves is sad to watch, especially when they're wholly unwilling to change his ways. Like a lone lemming plummeting off a cliff to its end, all you can do is watch and shake your head....
However, when that "lemming" threatens your liberties and insults your intelligence at every turn, you kinda wish you could pick him up and hurl him off the edge. I understand why you pity him; I really do. But I just can't share your sentiment for someone who completely deserves his punishment.
Game on, brothers and sisters.
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From that persepctive I can see where some would pity him. However, he had more than his fair share of chances and opportunities to turn things around and do things differently. He chose not to. And based on his response he still hasn't changed. I hope I don't sound like I'm attacking you and/or your point of view on this. That is certainly not my intent. Rather I do aggree with you that it is sad he is not going to learn from this.
So pity? No, I have no pity for him. He is not deserving of pity. If he showed any signs of remorse for his actions or indications that he could or wants to change maybe he could have some pity. Nor do I take joy from this either. I have plenty of other things in my life to take joy in. I do however feel a sense of satisfaction that justice, albeit delayed in my opinion, has been served.
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Ah, nothing like good news to lift one's spirits on a rainy day.
-Gray17
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Goddamnit, he's plugging his book again...
He just can't get off the idiot train...
Hoah!
He who laughs last, laughs the best.
And, oh boy, am I laughing.
-- http://pixelantes.blogspot.com/
Re: Hoah!
Don't start laughing yet.
Do you really think that Thompson is going to go away now?
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Now this is what I like to see first thing in the morning. Time for a victory dance.
Grombar SMASH!
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It truly is a good day!
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Awww yeeaah! Party time!
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Response to his disbarment
http://kotaku.com/5054801/thompson-responds-to-disbarment
Thompson also sent over a press release saying that the disbarment is in retaliation for, among other things, Thompson's Tyndale House book Out of Harm's Way which he says blew the whistle on what he describes as the Florida Supreme Court's attack on his activism against the American entertainment industry.
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LMAO at the end of his career, he plugs his book..guess that will be the remaining income for him from here on out.
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The gift that keeps on giving.
If you've ever watched the episode of Behind The Music on "Weird" Al Yankovic, one of the actors from his movie "UHF" showed a less than $1.00 royalty check he got in 1995.
Jack's got enough material for a new book. He can call it "How to kill your law career".
-Back in Black from a forced hiatus by Hurricane Gustav.
Geaux Saints, Geaux Tigers, Geaux Pelicans. Solidarity for the Saints = No retreat, no surrender. 2013 = Saints' revenge on the NFL. Even through the darkest days, this fire burns always.
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It's not over yet... he's got 30 days, and you can guarendarntee he's going to milk it for every last hour he has. Even after that, you're not going to be done with him. He's still going to be the same lingering childish narcisistic... well you get the idea. In fact, I can only forsee his behavior worsening since now, when it's all said and done, and when he knows he has no other recourse, he'll feel completely and utterly insulted because his irreverant self esteem wasn't protected. "The nerve of them rejecting me! It's all (conspiracy)! Well I'll show them!!!!"
He's going to eventually be arrested for taking his harassment to a new level. Give it a couple of years... I guarentee it.
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Yeah, he does still have 30 days, but since he still can't file anything without another lawyer's signature he won't get anything done. Who in their right mind would put their name on something filed by a lawyer who has just been disbarred for inappropriate conduct?
And, like you said, he's going to get arrested sooner or later. He doesn't have his lawyer status to protect him, so he's entirely open to lawsuits for libel, slander, and harassment.
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A couple years? Try "by next Monday". XD
Game on, brothers and sisters.
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Warms the heart doesn't it?
:)
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Huh, so the system does work on occassion.
You got no one to blame but yourself Jack, no matter how hard to cry victim.
Tea and cake or death! Tea and cake or death! Little Red Cook-book! Little Red Cook-book!
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Blame himself?....no no, he will claim that this is the greatest victory he has ever had. O.o
"The world if full of stupid people....watch out."
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Well my cohorts (see sig) will be delighted to hear about this! I've been watching it like a hawk for the past couple years, and now its all paid off!
-- "Jack and listen are two words that don't go together...just like Jack and sanity, Jack and truth, Jack and proof, Jack and win..." -- sortableturnip | http://www.orangeloungeradio.com/
400 Episodes, TEN YEARS and counting: http://www.orangeloungeradio.com/ | Voice of Geeks Network - http://www.vognetwork.com
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Yeah, you have to make a change to that quote, including "Jack and lawyer"
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Well, gotta give credit where credit's due, unlike JT... but yeah that was all 'sortableturnip's idea down there. :P
-- "Jack and listen are two words that don't go together...just like Jack and sanity, Jack and truth, Jack and proof, Jack and win..." -- sortableturnip (also, add 'Jack' and 'Lawyer' now) | http://www.orangeloungeradio.com/
400 Episodes, TEN YEARS and counting: http://www.orangeloungeradio.com/ | Voice of Geeks Network - http://www.vognetwork.com
Re: DISBARRED!
By the way Dennis: "
In a four-page written order, the Florida Supreme Court today affirmed a referee's recommendation to permanently disbar controversial Miami attorney Jack Thompson.
The action means that Thompson is no longer licensed to practicaw and may not apply for reinstatement."
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I think that the amount of sheer satisfaction and vindication he must have got from the result can excuse him that! ;-)
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Hahaha!!
I wholeheartedly agree
Not trying to be an ass
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Yes Virginia, there is justice in the world.
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Weeeeeee are the chaaaaaaampions, my frieeeeeeends...
Jack Thompson has officially divided by zero. He is no more... he has been Jack Thompsowned... rawk on, I will play Lego Batman in celebration of this momentus occasion.
---You are likely to be eaten by a Grue.
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HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!
Victory is ours!
When Life gives you lemons, you find a new god.
Re: DISBARRED!
Ignoring this bar on self-submitted filings, respondent has submitted numerous filings in violation of the sanction opinion, including the petition for review of the referee's report. The Clerk properly rejected each of these submissions. Thus, there being no authorized petition for review filed, and the time period to seek review has passed, the Court has treated this as an uncontested case. The Court has reviewed the 169-page corrected report of the referee filed on July 16, 2008, for sufficiency and has determined that permanent disbarment is merited on this record. (This report is posted on the Court's public website). The report Case Nos. SC07-80 and SC07-354
What an idiot. He effectively didn't object at all to Tunis' recommendation because he outright refused to comply with the order that he can't file anything without the signature of a lawyer in good standing.
It doesn't appear he has any ground to stand on for appeal/rehearing given that he effectively pleaded no-contest.
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Lets go slaughter children in honor of some game or other to celebrate!
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"Judgment is entered for The Florida Bar, 651 East Jefferson Street, Tallahassee, Florida 32399-2300, for recovery of costs from John Bruce Thompson in the amount of $43,675.35, for which sum let execution issue."
God, I totally wish...
Shameless Repost
Right where he wants 'em.