Jack Thompson facing federal disbarment

Following lifetime ban by Florida State Bar, anti-game activist must convince judge why he should not be forbidden to practice US law indefinitely.

If early footage is to be believed, anti-game activist Jack Thompson will be appearing on this Thursday's episode of Penn & Teller's Bulls***! (10 p.m. EDT/PDT). A teaser for the Showtime series showed the vocal critic saying that "Grand Theft Auto is the worst assault on children since polio" in an episode dedicated to debunking the link between in-game and real-world violence.

Ironically, as the Bulls***! episode airs, Thompson will be fighting a more literal assault on his ability to practice federal law. Nine months after he was permanently disbarred in Florida, the suburban Miami resident must now prove why he shouldn't be banned from practicing federal law indefinitely. Since the Florida State Bar's decision was handed down last September, Thompson has been claiming to be still "admitted to Practice in US District Court, Southern District of Florida" in his correspondence headers.

According to a court document obtained by GamePolitics, Thompson was served with an order to show cause by US District Judge Federico Moreno on June 26. Under the terms of the order, the game-violence opponent must file with the court an argument "why the imposition of the identical discipline [as the Florida permanent disbarment] would be unwarranted and the reasons therefore" with 30 days. That means that Thompson will have to submit a counterargument--along with his entire Florida State Bar record and disbarment complaint documents--by July 26.

In a response cc'd to GamePolitics, Thompson claimed Judge Moreno had improperly placed him on a terrorist watch list, an apparent reference to a visit by two US Marshals to his home last summer. Then he bemoaned the massive cost of obtaining the large number of documents needed to prove his argument.

"Now you have entered a show cause order demanding that I explain why you should not disbar me from the federal court, and in doing so you have told me to spend at least $30,000 to make my case in producing documents all of which the Florida Supreme Court has and (can) give [sic] you free of charge," wrote Thompson. "If I get sent to Gitmo as a 'terrorist,' then please send the stuff there. I'll be facing Tallahassee in prayer several times a day as required."

106 Comments

  • fixer293

    Posted Jul 22, 2009 4:56 am PT

    Tom Tucker: Good evening, I'm Tom Tucker

    Diane Simmons: And I'm Diane Simmons

    Tom: Breaking news, it seems Jack Thompson is now going to be fired.

    We go live to Florida.

    (Jack Thompson lead into padded room, screaming)

    Jack Thompson: GAMERS...GAMERS...FLY'S...NO NO. AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH

    Tom: what do you think Ollie

    Ollie: Man's sad.

  • Glade_Gnarr

    Posted Jul 13, 2009 2:09 pm PT

    Thompson a terrorist. Now it all makes sense.
    I would fell sorry for somone losing his job but he kind of brought this to himself.

  • Riverwolf007

    Posted Jul 13, 2009 7:24 am PT

    that's serious stuff, i sure hope he knows a good lawyer...hehe!

  • aura_enchanted

    Posted Jul 13, 2009 3:04 am PT

    in short jack thompson.. youve done jack with your career and expect us to believe a jack worth of facts about your fight against gaming as a whole and have decided to throw ur jack of all trades career against a brick wall. thats alot of jack.... and not once does it involve jack daniels.. for shame on you man.

  • Crazyplayer042

    Posted Jul 11, 2009 5:23 pm PT

    Worst attack since Polio? A game where you drive cars and shoot virtual people is...as bad as millions of children being paralyzed and dieing? Wow. Just wow.

  • Shadowsanek

    Posted Jul 11, 2009 12:12 pm PT

    wow even as Jack faces total ownage he still lashes out at the one place that could show him ANY mercy. His fate is all but sealed now....

  • soulless4now

    Posted Jul 10, 2009 7:06 pm PT

    Best news I've read all week!

  • Thrallia

    Posted Jul 10, 2009 1:08 am PT

    also, to those saying he is on a terrorist watch list...he isn't. The Marshal's went to his house to tell him to stop threatening judges, that is all, according to the linked post.

    Although, his disbarment federally sounds like simply a technicality, since he is not allowed to present anything to the Federal Court in Florida, and since the FBI ignores his now as well(also found in the link at gamepolitics)

  • Thrallia

    Posted Jul 10, 2009 1:02 am PT

    wow...If Jack Thompson really sent that to the Federal Court, then he's an even bigger idiot than I thought he was.

    Also, if he can get them free of charge, how does it cost him $30,000?

  • Rudorlf

    Posted Jul 9, 2009 8:31 pm PT

    Give us a gazillion reasons why should we even care about you, Jack. Plus if you think the judge has no reasons to place your name on the terrorist watch list, we do, just that we ain't telling you about it.

  • Inconnux

    Posted Jul 9, 2009 7:39 pm PT

    PS3 fanboys, Xbox360 fanboys, Wii fanboys and PC fanboys all unite when it comes to hating Jack Thompson...

  • Brutalityislaw

    Posted Jul 9, 2009 7:35 pm PT

    Owned!

  • janderdarkmoon

    Posted Jul 9, 2009 6:58 pm PT

    Yup, fanboys of the world united in their hatred of Jack Thompson.

  • Maverick82102

    Posted Jul 9, 2009 4:37 pm PT

    Well I for one would not be upset to see him go. He's a jerk. As he proves above.

  • Muteki_X

    Posted Jul 9, 2009 2:36 pm PT

    Good riddance! I hope this serves to deter any future morons.

  • XXMadManVII

    Posted Jul 9, 2009 2:36 pm PT

    hahaahhahhahahahhahahahahahhahahahahhahahha...... AAAAAHahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahah.... douchebag. What goes around comes around. You act like an a**hole, you get treated like and a**hole

  • McGregor

    Posted Jul 9, 2009 2:27 pm PT

    This guy is taking something that is so trivial to the extreme. He always seemed to over exaggerate the smallest details making them out to be so over-the-top-extreme and important that the point he was trying to make was lost from the initial concept. I am not sure why he wants to practice law anymore after all this...maybe he needs to feel like he won...something...

  • McDog3

    Posted Jul 9, 2009 1:01 pm PT

    That last paragraph, if he wrote and sent that to the judge, surely would not help his case one bit......Especially the last two sentences. I don't think the judge will appreciate racist jokes, and bad ones at that.

  • Hyperion_1400

    Posted Jul 9, 2009 12:24 pm PT

    Nah nah nah nah,
    Nah nah nah nah,
    Hey hey hey,
    GOOOooodbye!

  • GAMERALL

    Posted Jul 9, 2009 11:47 am PT

    BUSTED!

  • vicsrealms

    Posted Jul 9, 2009 11:18 am PT

    Best news I have heard in a long time.

  • steveroger

    Posted Jul 9, 2009 11:13 am PT

    I have actually met a number of lawyers like him who are crazy as a sh@thouse rat. They actually believe that they are most intelligent people in the universe. Typically they suffer from borderline personality disorder. Look it up on google if you need to. The diagnosis fits Thompson like a glove.

    What is interesting is that he thinks he is the most incredible attorney ever, but when you look at his pleadings they are full of grammatical and typographical errors. That is in addition to the fact that he has no idea how to apply any precedent or how any rules of civil procedure work.

    In addition to being crazy he is incompetent. The other thing is that he has a history of neglecting his clients. He will be disbarred from the Federal Courts just like he has been stripped of his States licenses.

  • Get_Shorty

    Posted Jul 9, 2009 9:58 am PT

    Daaaamn. Is this guy mentally unstable or what? No wonder they put him on the terroist watch list.

  • FarmFreshDX

    Posted Jul 9, 2009 9:49 am PT

    The article neglects to mention what he was banned for. That would be interesting.

  • Sonic_Saiyan

    Posted Jul 9, 2009 9:48 am PT

    Totally disbar him, bankrupt him, permanently deport him to Gitmo! PLEASE!!!

  • cutmaclass1

    Posted Jul 9, 2009 9:48 am PT

    gtfo Jack Thompson

  • thekey

    Posted Jul 9, 2009 9:45 am PT

    LOL!!!!!

  • enoslives7

    Posted Jul 9, 2009 9:38 am PT

    LMAO

  • gatsbythepig

    Posted Jul 9, 2009 9:31 am PT

    We can all agree this is good news.

  • mjc0961

    Posted Jul 9, 2009 9:30 am PT

    Love the censor bypasses in the article.

  • RossRichard

    Posted Jul 9, 2009 8:52 am PT

    I always love seeing this guy get his. I hope he never gets to practice law in the US again and spread his bile opinions and contrived 'facts.' This being said, placing him on a terrorist watch list is a little too far.

  • Bringerofpwnage

    Posted Jul 9, 2009 8:31 am PT

    I'm gonna miss his constant nagging and pointless issues.

    Not.

  • tubbstosterone

    Posted Jul 9, 2009 7:14 am PT

    Jack Thompson is a horrible person, but I do think things have gone a little far. Should he be allowed to practice law? No. Should he be on a terrorist watch list? Unconstitutional. Remember, we would all rather have an incompetent making all these claims than someone who ACTUALLY has their act together.

  • akiwak

    Posted Jul 9, 2009 7:10 am PT

    This is what happens when you trash talk online! Those players you've been pwning online with that sound like little girls are actually Jack Thompson. So please stop trash talking them as it could create more!!!! LMAO

    JT is horrible at games so instead of practicing and getting better he wants to ban them.... He "IS" that nerd that got picked on in school all throughout his life even in college. Not even other nerds wanted to be around him.

  • cfmustang

    Posted Jul 9, 2009 6:32 am PT

    Jack Thompson = Burgermeister Meisterburger

  • wahyudil

    Posted Jul 9, 2009 5:46 am PT

    maybe he had a bad childhood time ... and blame them on games, because they didn't appear at his time ... LOL

  • sieg6529

    Posted Jul 9, 2009 5:43 am PT

    Normally I do not encourage schadenfreude, but in his case: YEAAAAAAAH!

  • gameweasl

    Posted Jul 9, 2009 5:24 am PT

    LOL! What a tool!

  • Andron666

    Posted Jul 9, 2009 5:15 am PT

    Will he go postal and blame it all on games when he finally succeeds in getting himself permanently barred?

  • swmeek

    Posted Jul 9, 2009 4:54 am PT

    Keep it up Jack and maybe we won't have to ever hear your name mentioned ever again! Pretty please?

  • brendanhunt1

    Posted Jul 9, 2009 4:36 am PT

    i was disappointed after he was permanently disbarred in Florida. it was fun to watch him mess up

  • metalisticpain

    Posted Jul 9, 2009 4:22 am PT

    Bahahahahaha.....






    Bhahahahahaha

  • Pexalottle

    Posted Jul 9, 2009 2:35 am PT

    hey, now that I've studied up, he really is a wank job

  • Pexalottle

    Posted Jul 9, 2009 2:28 am PT

    GTA is rated for people atleast over 15, no **** is he wrong, sounds like a wank job though

  • Dark_knight109

    Posted Jul 9, 2009 2:28 am PT

    Jack Thompson: The Paris Hilton of the video game world.

  • Pexalottle

    Posted Jul 9, 2009 2:26 am PT

    who the hell is this and what the hell just happened?

  • MetalZombieII

    Posted Jul 9, 2009 2:16 am PT

    Couldn't be happening to a nicer guy

  • darklight4

    Posted Jul 9, 2009 2:08 am PT

    its about time thompson gets what he deserves. this guy needs to be locked in a padded room hes nuts

  • crunchb3rry

    Posted Jul 8, 2009 11:32 pm PT

    The guy is just too unstable. Ironic, given his entire career has been trying to convince everyone playing violent games makes you unstable. I remember back when he did an interview on G4, guy looked like he just got back from a bender in Vegas. The cheese slid off his cracker a long time ago.

  • UnknownPerson55

    Posted Jul 8, 2009 11:28 pm PT

    jack tompson is a d***** anyway...

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