Jack Thompson huffs, puffs, provokes

  • By Curt Feldman, GameSpot
  • Posted Nov 21, 2005 3:52 pm PT

Dismissed lawyer delivers stinging rebuke to judge in Alabama civil suit.

Last week, Fayette County Circuit Judge James Moore took steps to quiet Florida-based attorney Jack Thompson. Judge Moore imposed an order on the attorney preventing him from participating in the Devin Moore civil trial, as well as limiting Thompson's ability to practice law in Alabama.

The order effectively removed Thompson from the team of attorneys representing the families of two police officers and a dispatcher killed in June 2003 by then-18-year-old Devin Moore. Moore was found guilty of the murders in August.

Thompson had represented three plaintiffs, representatives of the deceased's estates, seeking damages from Sony, Take-Two Interactive, Rockstar Games, Wal-Mart, and GameStop for their alleged culpability in the homicides.

According to news site Game Politics, Thompson had sought to withdraw from the case, saying the defense was trying to make him the issue and that he was stepping aside so that his clients' needs could better be served. Instead, the judge preemptively removed Thompson.

In a document purportedly filed with the court today (provided to GameSpot by Thompson), Thompson lashed out at Judge Moore, baiting him with rhetorical questions and freighting the filing with italicized, underscored, and boldfaced text as well as provocations that imply untoward behavior on the part of the defense's legal team as well as the judge himself.

The gist of Thompson's argument is that Judge Moore did not have the right to remove Thompson as Thompson had already removed himself from the case, and that there was "no basis whatsoever for this Court not to allow Thompson to withdraw."

"Does the Court really want to take the position that the problem was Thompson’s leaving the case rather than staying in the case? That would be interesting," Thompson wrote in the motion.

In the document, Thompson further needles the court in its decision to remove him from the case: "Did this Court somehow, in the last three weeks, manage to repeal the First, Fifth, and Fourteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution?" Thompson asks.

Thompson then calls the court's decision a "legal nullity," and he continues, claiming, "This Court wouldn't let Thompson leave. It kept him just so it could kick him out, with absolutely no authority to do so."

The diatribe also delves into what he calls "total fabrications" by attorneys for the defense, Blank Rome LLP, which lobbied for Thompson's removal. He also accuses the firm of "starting this food fight."

"Further, the Court presided over a wholly unethical and fraudulent assault upon the character of John B. Thompson by opposing counsel, Blank Rome," Thompson writes in the court filing.

"The Court was made aware of total fabrications by Blank Rome in this assault. Thompson responded by aggressively telling the truth in response to those lies. What did this Court do? It punished Thompson for aggressively telling the truth yet looked the other way when Blank Rome elegantly told those lies. This is utter judicial nonsense. The Court is supposed to get at the truth, not deny clients their counsel of choice based upon his predilections as to style.

"Since when is it unethical to belligerently tell the truth but highly ethical to stylishly prevaricate? This Court has entered an Order that rewards an entire law firm and its entertainment industry clients for taking self-righteous offense at the telling of the truth. Blank Rome started the food fight, and this Court ultimately took offense at the undersigned's efforts to shovel the effluent out of the Fayette County Courthouse."

Clearly, the final volley in this very public "food fight" has yet to be made.

69 Comments

  • digimrm2004

    Posted May 5, 2007 1:20 am PT

    So f**king what if the court is ignoring his first amendment rights. WTF gives him the right to the first amendment if he himself is trying to take it away from these companies. He thinks he's soooo important, and LinKuei_warrior, I bet if anyone of us took him on in court we would always win.

  • LinKuei_warrior

    Posted Feb 24, 2007 3:08 pm PT

    Thompson obviously doesnt know how to do his job.its the parents fault for buying their childrens M rated games.and if that wasnt enough....IT SAYS ALL THE STYUFF THATS GONNA BE IN THE FLIPPIN GAME ON THE BACK!!i would take on Thompson in court anyday...make money off the weak case he gives me.,...and shame him for wasting all his years in college to be show up by a 16yr old who knows more about how stuff works than he does.

    THOMPSON LOST HIS LICENSE!!!LMAO!!

  • styx56

    Posted Oct 9, 2006 8:00 am PT

    THOMSON JUST PLEASE STOP!

  • hart704

    Posted Aug 16, 2006 8:48 pm PT

    I have tons of M rated games. Come and arrest me too! Come on! I'm beggin' ya, Thompson! Make me famous!

  • traviswitmer

    Posted Jul 6, 2006 10:25 pm PT

    Why is he talking in the third person? I don't think that anyone is going to hire this guy as a defense attorney now that he has completely stripped away any respect that anyone could have had for him as a person or lawyer. He talks about the court ignoring his first amendment rights, but what the hell does he think his so called "crusade" is doing? I hope Jack gets convicted of civil rights violations and raped in prison.

  • syckls

    Posted Jun 5, 2006 8:49 pm PT

    Just like that guy to try to defend the First Amendment.

  • Yuf

    Posted Nov 22, 2005 3:37 pm PT

    "JRGuinness
    Not that Thompson would read anything here, but to answer his questions: If he had paid attention in law school, he would know that style is everything in a criminal case. Style affects the judges perception of your arguments, style affects the jury's perception of your arguments, and most importantly style affects how the rest of the world sees you. Good luck in him ever finding another job of being a defense attorney. I think that I see ambulance chasing in his future. " ----

    It's pretty obvious he didn't pay attention in law school because he's skipped accepting investigative process and a little thing called reality. That, and the fact the Florida Bar Test is the least difficult out of any Bar Test in the country.

    He may as well have gotten his certificate out of a cracker jack box.

  • ShadowMP303

    Posted Nov 22, 2005 2:35 pm PT

    rofl! pwn3d by the law. how long before he accuses the judge of being paid off by someone inflenced by GTA

  • TheFurryChicken

    Posted Nov 22, 2005 12:41 pm PT

    This is hilarious. I always get a kick out of this guy. Everyone hates him, and he tries to tell everyone he's the good guy. No, he's a self-righteous prick that only seems to want fame by taking on one of the biggest industries in America. Real smart there. He just needs to shut up for a minute and realize how ridiculous this whole thing is.

  • civilmiddle88

    Posted Nov 22, 2005 8:19 am PT

    I thought this guy had been to law school! But idont think he's even read the constition. Freedom of speech applys to everybody!

  • bigscumpigstink

    Posted Nov 22, 2005 8:18 am PT

    Did anyone else notice how he kept referring to himself in the third person? Who the hell does he think he is, The Rock? This guy claims that the court has "thrown out the First, Fifth, and Fourteenth Amendments" yet he himself is challenging the First Amendment rights of the defendants. What a hypocrite... this tool needs to learn how to practice what he preaches.

  • NofrikinfuN

    Posted Nov 22, 2005 7:09 am PT

    To Cowboy_Beboper:
    I KNEW I couldn't be the only one that mentally connected JT to Pastor Richards! I knew it!

    Pastor Richards is exactly as I imagine JT to be in real life. (Even better, they both live in Florida.)

    The day he starts a Salvation Statue fund, I'll consider leaving the country.

  • meggido

    Posted Nov 22, 2005 7:00 am PT

    He insults anyone who annoys him.

  • bodyrock666

    Posted Nov 22, 2005 6:15 am PT

    he's embarrasingly mentally ill

  • SnuffDaddyNZ

    Posted Nov 22, 2005 5:35 am PT

    And this news relates to gaming .... how exactly?

    Spare me the sideshows.

  • KIELW93

    Posted Nov 22, 2005 4:13 am PT

    he's always good for a laugh. when will he just be quiet and realize he's just making himselve looking like a idiot? "you cannot remove ME for, for I, have already removed MYSELVE. do you understand ME?" as soon as I read that the judge had removed thompson from the case, I just KNEW that this is how he would respond: by sending hate mail to the judge. yes people, he really IS that dumb

  • never-named

    Posted Nov 22, 2005 3:44 am PT

    Jack surely has some issues to work out. Maybe in his earlier days he was never let to play videogames by his folks so he had to watch all the other kids have fun and now he is a sore old loser holding a grudge against the whole damn industry.

  • Nico4

    Posted Nov 22, 2005 2:15 am PT

    Does this never end!?

  • MarneBabe

    Posted Nov 21, 2005 11:59 pm PT

    Why doesn't the judge censure Thompson for accusing the court of making a "fraudulent assault" against him (Thompson), when it is clear that it did not? (I said "censure", not "censor")

  • VFG

    Posted Nov 21, 2005 11:52 pm PT

    Just when you think J.T. has finished digging that grave for himself... he digs a little deeper.

  • cypher50

    Posted Nov 21, 2005 11:20 pm PT

    Let Thompson keep his idiotic comments coming because if he is all we have to fear as far as anti-gaming zealots go then we are in luck.

  • Ace_WondersX

    Posted Nov 21, 2005 10:44 pm PT

    Change i to I'm. sry =)

  • Ace_WondersX

    Posted Nov 21, 2005 10:41 pm PT

    I gonna grab a gun and shoot him in the leg, say GTA: San Andreas made me do it, then asked him to defend me in court.

  • _LEGIONS_

    Posted Nov 21, 2005 10:09 pm PT

    Moral of the story: I wouldn't hire this guy even for a penny.

  • jerico6

    Posted Nov 21, 2005 9:17 pm PT

    This A##hole should just give up!

  • -Ronin-_basic

    Posted Nov 21, 2005 9:14 pm PT

    Translation: "Waah, waah, waah."

  • kainenable

    Posted Nov 21, 2005 8:53 pm PT

    Wow, is he just looking for attention or is he just delusinal?

  • wasd4life

    Posted Nov 21, 2005 8:29 pm PT

    Roflmao now he's just embarrasing himself.

  • gskcp

    Posted Nov 21, 2005 8:12 pm PT

    geez, the next thing you know, its gonna be:
    Thompson v. Pot Smokers! and he'll be made an even bigger fool!

  • Royas

    Posted Nov 21, 2005 8:10 pm PT

    Jackie boy needs to be a bit more careful... if this statement was an official filing in the court, and the judge takes sufficient offense, he may very well find himself penalized. It's called contempt of court, and most judges have very little patience for it. Folks see the inside of jails for that sort of thing.

  • Eribuster_basic

    Posted Nov 21, 2005 7:43 pm PT

    His antics reminds me of internet forum trolls.

  • ThomasElla

    Posted Nov 21, 2005 7:40 pm PT

    What would be nice would be if all news outlets just ignored him outright. Then we wouldn't have to listen to him and eventually he'd just fizzle out as a bad memory.

  • Mp5slipknot

    Posted Nov 21, 2005 7:32 pm PT

    The man is seriously digging his own grave. Dont forget that even several anti-game activists, those who should be his biggest supports, are starting to back away from him. I think he is simply trying despratley to rise an already sunked ship.

  • Aggie1295

    Posted Nov 21, 2005 7:18 pm PT

    Will someone please disbar this guy?

  • Father_Time89

    Posted Nov 21, 2005 6:58 pm PT

    Wal mart sony rockstar and gamestop will almost certaintly win this case. They had a similar case for Columbine and they lost too.

  • WarioGBA

    Posted Nov 21, 2005 6:53 pm PT

    Hopefully, he's starting to see everything's not as black and white as he thought. He's too sensitive, and needs to learn how to deal with life.

  • OfficialBed

    Posted Nov 21, 2005 6:29 pm PT

    douchebag

  • Atomic_Mutant

    Posted Nov 21, 2005 6:28 pm PT

    I used to view favourably of Mr. Thompson's appropriation of the idea of the danger of violent games on young minds, and how it was was facilitated that the proliferation of violent content was made so accessible. But he personally is not endearing. There is no gracefulness about him and his actions, something that indicates a noble conviction that compells people to do something good and humane. It is about time for Mr. Thompson to look himself in the mirror and realise that this continued exasperating amount of diatribe and vitriol would serve him no purpose but to render him irrelevant in the public's eye; he is in danger of not being portrayed as a public defender, but rather an agitator who discredits the real efforts done on the front of game content regulation.

  • IceInfernoX3

    Posted Nov 21, 2005 6:25 pm PT

    thompson is a moron. he should get a life and try other cases...oh wait he CANT! HAHAHAHAHHAAHAAA....

  • VScalar

    Posted Nov 21, 2005 5:58 pm PT

    VScalar hates people who refer to themselves in the third person as Mr. Thompson did in the legal filing mentioned.

    But let's face it, folks: we have nothing to fear from this pathetic loser.

  • WallaceUGBeaver

    Posted Nov 21, 2005 5:46 pm PT

    Wouldn't that be called leaving by mutual agreement?

  • demonunchained

    Posted Nov 21, 2005 5:46 pm PT

    "Since when is it unethical to belligerently tell the truth but highly ethical to stylishly prevaricate?....."

    Umm thats how it always was in court! lol
    When a witness (lets assume is telling the truth) blurts out emotionally that he saw the murderer commit the crime in an emotional out-burst, the defense is awarded with a mistrial.

    Grow up Thompson......

  • firefruze

    Posted Nov 21, 2005 5:40 pm PT

    One can only ignore and pitty a worthless brat for so long.......till you've had enough and just smack them in the face. ( Its a metaphor , not condoning child violence although I have met some evil litle children that anger me ooh so much) But yeah I dont know how he can show his face in public ( does he show his face in public .... a Jack thompson siteing site would be soooo very sweet ( Ulitmate ridicule!!!) but if he does show his face in public I hope that there are alot of angry gamers hissing and booing him. ( yeah you heard me , hiss and boo )lol

  • CiceroXIII

    Posted Nov 21, 2005 5:35 pm PT

    Thompson's one to talk about the first amendment. He's the one advocating forceful silencing of free speech by a higher authority. How's it feel to be on the receiving end, you senile maniac?

  • yahiko4

    Posted Nov 21, 2005 5:32 pm PT

    This guy is really getting annoying. Thank God someone finally saw through him. It was really starting to get out of hand, even people I know were starting catch "the stupid".

  • tchkd7

    Posted Nov 21, 2005 5:29 pm PT

    I hate hypocrites like him only believing in the first ammendment when it's for saving their dumbasses

  • Cunder

    Posted Nov 21, 2005 5:22 pm PT

    I may not live in Alabama but THANK YOU JUDGE FOR FREAKING LIMITING HIM!. I mean come on the path this guy was going was for the money and get his face on tv or be known as some sort of celebrity. The only thing is pulling is ruining his own life and job. This guy is a joke when it comes to his job he should of gone in for comedy instand of lawyer. Now all we need Mr. Thomas to do is get a limit of practicing law in the rest of the 49 states and end his stupid career this guy doesn't belong in a court room or have the right to be a lawyer!!!!

  • umbrae

    Posted Nov 21, 2005 5:20 pm PT

    I am beginning to enjoy reading about Tommy Boy in the news. Now that he is losing finally loosing his mind and showing it. Sort of reminds me of Brad Pitt's character in 12 Monkeys. I can see Tommy Boy twirling his finger frantically.

  • Linkscorage64

    Posted Nov 21, 2005 5:18 pm PT

    Agreed for a second I thought he bribed CSI: Miami to spread around the stupid. i guess they did on free will.

  • BoyarPunk

    Posted Nov 21, 2005 5:12 pm PT

    See what happens when you don't have a life???
    Hey Jack: get one!

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