In order for certiorari to be granted, at least four Justices must be convinced that Thompson’s case merits review based on his filings, to which the Florida Bar has declined to respond. Should the Court conclude that any of Thompson’s presented legal questions need to be resolved, oral argument will be scheduled for a date as early as this fall. Another option the Court has (besides denying cert and then just ignoring the case completely) is to issue a short and sweet per curiam opinion to resolve the legal issues and quickly dispose of the matter without hearing oral argument.

GamePolitics has a copy of Thompson’s petition for your comedic pleasure here. We doubt that certiorari will be granted, as conspiracy theories and allegations that he was disbarred without due process (despite the entire saga of discipline by the Florida Bar and the resulting court proceedings) do not add up to a very meritorious case–however entertaining oral argument and the resulting opinion would be.

Thompson v. The Florida Bar: Filings Distributed To The Supreme Court is a post from: gameslaw.net

The video is split into 4 parts, the first of which can be found here. Note that the 2nd part is mislabeled “part 1″ as well, but differs in that it has Tom Buscaglia in the first frame (the actual part 1 has myself and Ross Dannenberg in the first frame). Parts 3 and 4 are labeled as normal.

Link: Part 1

GamesLaw Video Footage: Legal Issues in Contemporary Games is a post from: gameslaw.net

GP: You’ve come under severe criticism from Jack Thompson in recent days in regard to the video game bill vetoed by Gov. Huntsman last week. Can you comment?

Shurtleff: Well, I just consider the source. I don’t take what Jack Thompson says – give it much credence. This latest demand that I prosecute certain crimes shows me that he knows about as much about criminal law as he does about constitutional law…

The AG shows a remarkable understanding of our industry, and is one of the rare politicians that actually understands the ESRB. Again from the article:

GP: In recent years, you have had a friendly relationship with the video game industry. You did a public service announcement for the ESRB in 2006 and, in 2008, the ESA donated money to your campaign.

Shurtleff: My attitude is there’s a great rating system. I feel very strongly that the ESRB rating system works. It’s something that every parent ought to know about. And let me make it very clear that, while our officers and prosecutors didn’t think we could prosecute someone for selling Grand theft Auto IV, I certainly would strongly recommend against any parent letting their kids play the game. I don’t let my kids play it. Parents ought to be parents when it comes to games like that.

The full interview is available here.

Utah AG Explains Gov’s Veto. is a post from: gameslaw.net

Dear Jack,

We hope this letter finds you well.  We do, however, have some bad news for you.

Your blogging rights are being curtailed.

Our friends, supporters, and even sworn enemies have had enough of your incessant, narcissistic diatribes.

While we are firm believers in unfettered, open source comments, everyone is sick to death of you infecting each and every post with your thoughts and legal briefs.  From this point forward, you will not be allowed to hijack and frustrate the commentary.

That being said, we still believe in the First Amendment, and we believe it applies to everyone, regardless of race, creed, class, or mental stability.  We also feel bad for you, since we know you have nowhere else left to post, and no blog of your own that anyone would care to read.

Accordingly, pursuant to our two (2) disclaimers, you are hereby expressly forbidden to comment anywhere on JAABLOG but on this post, and this post only (”AN OPEN LETTER TO JACK THOMPSON”). If you feel your comments are getting too numerous for your fan club to follow, simply let us know you wish to start over, and we will have the comments section cleared.  In time, if you behave,
we might even let you name the post any way you wish.

If, however, you violate this rule, you will be blocked and permanently banned from publishing on JAABLOG for all eternity.  Any comments that do appear will be summarily deleted.

Dear, dear Jack, we have been more than patient.  Frankly, you could cause Buddah or Jesus himself to ditch you in a restaurant after the order has been placed.  Still, we have faith in you.  Don’t let us down.
With love and affection,

JAABLOG

Not that this will necessarily stop him. He’s been banned before at other sites, such as GamePolitics.com. I thought about it, (preemptively expecting the question,) but as of now I’m not prepared to ban Jack from this site. For one, he’s not that frequent of a visitor here, and for another, I believe in transparency and openness of forum as much as possible. I want to be clear, I’m not critical of JAABlog’s decision, because they’ve had significantly more exposure to him than we have. Comparing us to them is like  comparing apples to oranges. If Jack ever gets to the point here that he was at JAABlog, I’d probably take measures to ban him too, but for the meantime, he isn’t.

Florida Lawyers Tell Jack Thompson: No More! is a post from: gameslaw.net

The Florida Bar News Disciplinary Actions for December 15, 2008

John Bruce Thompson, 5721 Riviera Drive, Coral Gables, permanently disbarred without leave to apply for readmission, effective 30 days from a September 25 court order. (Admitted to practice: 1977) Thompson is charged with extensive misconduct and a complete lack of remorse. In five separate cases over a three-and-a-half year period, Thompson engaged in conduct involving dishonesty, fraud, deceit, or misrepresentation. (Case Nos. SC07-80 and SC07-354)

Awesomesauce, I must say, and appropriate to note the “complete lack of remorse.”  Thompson has been pretty quiet as of late. Lets see if this latest “blow” from the bar sets him off. Gameslaw readers will remember that Thompson believes (and has stated to the court) that we (GamesLaw) are one of his enemies, a criminal element of the games industry. We look forward to seeing what he comes up with next.

Jack Thompson “dishonesty, fraud, deceit, or misrepresentation” is a post from: gameslaw.net

Of course, the legal profession and the game industry have come out on top today. But I can’t help but feel disappointed that a lawyer, who was once a struggling 2L trying to balance all the different elements of their life like I am, was reduced to this. Although this is a just result, he has already done more damage to the industry than he should have been allowed to. But on a brighter note, we have proven resilient and now that he’s gone, the First Amendment rights of this art form will probably not be threatened so frivolously again. I can only imagine who will take his place, but hopefully the example that the Florida Bar has made of Thompson will discourage the more egregious conduct.

So, am I dancing in the streets? No. Am I flaming and trolling on some message board? No. Am I going to throw a party to celebrate the outcome? No. I’m going to go sit in front of one of my consoles and do what I love to do. And every so often I might pause the game, close my eyes, and think about all the mistakes I won’t make thanks to the example of Mr. John Bruce Thompson, Former Attorney. The only thing that would make this moment more perfect is if I had a lit candle to snuff out as twilight approaches.

And so the sun sets… is a post from: gameslaw.net

Andrew writes:

Included in today’s update is the wonderful Supplement filed earlier today in which GamesLaw is mentioned, as well as a Notice by the Florida Bar of the Appearance of the Attornies for the defense.

There is also a Notice by John Bruce of a Sworn Statement by a Third Party in support of John Bruce’s request for an Emergency Stay on behalf of Bill Corbin, another disbarred attorney.

Grab the files here.

More Thompson Coverage is a post from: gameslaw.net

As evidence of this, Thompson has recently filed a motion in his lawsuit against the Florida Bar referring to this website, GamesLaw.net, as a “video game enem[y]” doing “criminal activities”.  But get this, it’s a motion to….stay the Jack Thompson Disbarment Countdown Clock that a user at the ECA forums created. Yep. Clearly, this is a proper use of the court’s valuable time.

Anyway, Thompson rants predictably in his motion, accusing Kotaku Managing Editor Brian Crecente and Gawker Media founder Nick Denton of being gay, and wanting a homosexual tryst with Thompson; Strauss Zelnick of Take-Two interactive of essentially supporting murder art; and other less interesting rants against the ESA, the ECA, Doug Lowenstein, etc. His legal support for his motion is a quote from Jesus, followed up by accusing his detractors of being worse facist kooks than Justice Douglas’ “goose-stepping brigades.” Oh, and we’re a commerce-driven lynch mob. Right.

Mr. Thompson, we’re honored that you would think of us as your enemy, but we’re rather offended that you mentioned us in a motion rife with typos, and only give us a one sentence paragraph (with poor text justification at that).  Seriously, would it hurt to run a spell checker?

We Are a Criminal Element of the Game Industry! is a post from: gameslaw.net

For 2008cv22603 (Thompson v. Florida Bar I), the following four files, in .zip format,

• Part #1, filings dating from 19 Sep. 2008 to 28 Sep. 2008, including docket reports.
• Part #2, filings dated from 30 Sep. 2008 to 03 Oct. 2008.
• Part #3, filings dated from 06 Oct. 2008 through 13 Oct. 2008, including an attached letter dated Oct. 7.
• Part #4, motions and notices from 14 Oct. 2008 through 17 Oct. 2008. The most recent of these is entitled “PLAINTIFF’S VERIFIED MOTION FOR THE COURT TO TAKE JUDICIAL NOTICE OF GOVERNMENTAL DOCUMENTS, ETC.” and includes a 138 page congressional report.
• This .rar file should contain all of the above, but since I don’t have WinRAR I cannot verify that.

I’d like to point out that Thompson’s most recent motion includes such gems as the following:

“Rather than burden this federal court, however, with the proff that the Referee’s Report and the
subsequent Disbarment Order are complete acts of fiction, plaintiff herein now simply
asks this court to take judicial notice of certain documents that are completely
independent of plaintiff that disprove just one of the Supreme Court’s “findings.””

Also, I want to point out, Mr. Thompson (since I know you read this site) that you have a typo on your motion — “Proff”? Surely you meant proof, or, proffer, or some other such word. But, considering it is sandwiched in the middle of a sentence to the effect of “Instead of actually proving my case, I’m just going to attach over a hundred of pages of documents that purport to cast doubt on a single point the court made, without addressing substantively my defense of that point, or of any of the others made by the court.” Thompson even knows full well what he’s doing is a burden for the court. To wit, from his own motion (bolded for emphasis):

“Plaintiff Thompson has burdened this court with an analysis of just one of the
Supreme Court’s findings”

Then again, this is from an attorney who compares himself to the leadership of the Nazi’s:

“Goering and Goebbels got more due process than this at Nuremburg.”

In Thompson’s world, comparing yourself to the Nazi leadership makes you a martyr. Just sick.

In addition, we have the collected docket report and filings from Thompson v. Hall et al, (his case v. the Supreme Court of Florida), 2008cv22378. Those can be found here and here.

And to finish it up, we have his other case against the Florida Bar (Thompson v. Florida Bar II) 2008cv21922. This is the one being defended by Greenberg Traurig. Those are available here and here.

Enjoy your Thompson daily overdose!

Massive collection of Jack Thompson’s recent filings is a post from: gameslaw.net

• Filings: Jack Thompson Filing Technique is STILL Unstoppable.
• Other recent filings by Jack Thompson.

Jack Thompson Federal Filing Update is a post from: gameslaw.net