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Jack Thompson has been disbarred

Author: Joe Martin
Published: 26th September 2008

They say that for each and every action there must be an equal and opposite reaction and we're betting that this particular piece of news is the positive reaction to last week's evil when Uwe Boll announced he was making a computer game.

Jack Thompson, thorn in the side of violent video game makers everywhere, has been disbarred by the Florida Bar and forced to pay $43,675.35 in legal fees to the court.

The judgement is the result of a hearing in which Thompson was accused of abusing the legal system and 27 counts of misconduct in his attempts to punish developers of violent video games. Thompson has attributed everything from crime rates to the Virginia Tech shootings in his complaints.

According to the court report, Thompson's disbarment will come into effect in 30 days, giving the lawyer time to close his current practice.

"The Court approves the corrected referee's report and John Bruce Thompson is permanently disbarred, effective thirty days from the date of this order so that respondent can close out his practice and protect the interests of existing clients. If respondent notifies the Court in writing that he is no longer practising and does not need the thirty days to protect existing clients, this Court will enter an order making the permanent disbarment effective immediately. Respondent shall accept no new business from the date this order is filed," said the court report according to Kotaku.

Thompson may not be out just yet however as he still has a chance for retrial if the motion can be filed by another member of the Florida Bar who is considered to be in good standing with the court.

In an effort to give Thompson a chance to present his side of the argument, we contacted him for comment and received in reply two Microsoft Word documents, as well as a 45-page .PDF file. The first item is a press release from Thompson which we have attached below, while the second Word document is an emergency plead to stay the Florida Supreme Court's disbarment of Thompson.

The .PDF meanwhile details a third legal suit which Thompson had previously pursued against the Florida bar and which Thompson suspects is the real reason that he is being disbarred. It is Thompson's belief that the case he was alleging threatened the Supreme Court so much that has been disbarred so that the case, titled 'Complaint for declaratory relief, injunctive relief and for compensatory and punitive damages', can not be completed. The case names several Chief Justices, as well as a other members of the Florida bar as defendants including Judge Dava Tunis, who was the Judge presiding over Thompson's disbarment.

The complaint that Thompson is filing states that the purpose of his complaint is "not to thwart the Supreme Court's legitimate goal of providing quality, ethical legal services." Thompson instead says that lawyer regulation in Florida has gotten off the tracks and that he is trying to correct it for the sake of the public.

Happy that Jack Thompson may finally be on the way out, or were you in support of him the whole time? Let us know your thoughts in the forums. Attached below is Thompson's press release.


Immediate News Release – Sept. 25, 2008: Miami Attorney Jack Thompson Disbarred by Florida Supreme Court
Miami attorney Jack Thompson, nationally and internationally known by virtue of his effective and successful opposition over the last 20 years to the broadcast, marketing, and sale of adult-rated entertainment to children, has just been informed by the Florida Supreme Court that he has been disbarred from the practice of law today.

This disbarment is in retaliation, among other things, for Thompson’s Tyndale House book Out of Harm’s Way, published in 2005, which blew the whistle on the Florida Supreme Court’s earlier efforts in the 1990’s to literally pathologize his faith-based and successful activism against the American entertainment industry. The Florida Bar’s insurance carrier was forced to pay Thompson money damages for that earlier assault upon his First Amendment rights, which is the only known payment of damages by any state bar to any lawyer for improper disciplinary efforts. It appears that the State of Florida will be paying Thompson more damages this time around for its illegal, now repeated, use of “discipline” to punish a Christian lawyer for his activism in the public square.

The timing of this disbarment transparently reveals its motivation: This past Friday Thompson filed a federal civil rights action against The Bar, the Supreme Court, and all seven of its Justices. This rush to disbarment is in retribution for the filing of that federal suit. With enemies this foolish, Thompson needs only the loyal friends he has.

Thompson looks forward to successfully litigating his federal claims, now before US District Court Judge Marcia Cooke in the Southern District of Florida.

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.

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