Judge: Thompson violated Florida Bar rules

Florida attorney Jack Thompson has made a name for himself crusading against violent games, to varying degrees of success. He helped author a Louisiana law that would have banned the sale of obscene games to minors (it was signed into law but eventually struck down), and he forced Take-Two Interactive to show the PlayStation 2 game Bully to a federal judge before release in order to prove it wasn't a public nuisance (the judge ruled it wasn't).

Along the way he also ran afoul of the Florida Bar, which accused him of violating professional standards of conduct, disobeying a judge's orders, and other transgressions. Earlier this week, a referee in the Bar's case against Thompson concluded that the lawyer was guilty of 27 rule violations, including improperly practicing law in Alabama, making false statements to tribunals, and disparaging and humiliating litigants and other lawyers, according to a report on Law.com. The referee, Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Dava Tunis, did not explain the reasons behind her recommendations, but a sanctions hearing in the matter is set for June 4.

Thompson is trying to have Tunis removed from the case, arguing that she has a personal grudge against him. According to a Florida State Attorney's memo filed by Thompson in a separate complaint against the Florida Supreme Court, Tunis' signature on a 2000 loyalty oath was forged. The report said Tunis had never been presented with the oath in the first place and, upon discovering the problem, signed a valid oath in February. Thompson argues that Tunis' recommendations that he be found guilty are intended to punish him because he "blew the whistle" on her and that any orders she issued prior to the February signing are now void.

Meanwhile, this week Thompson also obtained a stay of proceedings in another suit he had outstanding against the Florida Bar. Saying he hasn't had time to practice law given his fight with the Bar and personal issues, Thompson said he offered a compromise to the Bar. According to Thompson, he offered to spend the next two years representing only indigent clients to avoid further legal wrangling with the Bar, but he has received no response to the proposal.

"These people don't want a resolution," Thompson said in a court filing. "They want Thompson's career, or what is left of it."