Posted on 02/22/2008 10:55:23 AM PST by Lurking Libertarian
The Florida Supreme Court is threatening Coral Gables attorney Jack Thompson with sanctions for frivolous and insulting filings in his disciplinary case.
The attorney who has made a name for himself crusading against pornography was warned about his filings last April after he submitted “pornographic materials” to the court, the show-cause order said.
The Florida Supreme Court issued the order Tuesday telling Thompson to explain why it shouldn’t reject future court filings from him unless they are signed by another Florida Bar member.
Thompson responded with three court filings by Thursday afternoon, according to the Supreme Court’s online docket.
The court warned him twice last year to stop filing motions with the court in his disciplinary case assigned to Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Dava Tunis.
“I have a right to file anything I want with the court,” Thompson told the Daily Business Review on Wednesday. “It is beyond bizarre that they think they can tell me I can’t seek relief. They can deny relief, but they can’t tell me I can’t seek relief.”
He submitted what he called a preliminary response to the court, saying the order “wildly infringes” on his constitutional rights and was “a brazen attempt” to repeal the First Amendment right to petition the government to redress grievances.
Thompson said he hasn’t filed anything with the court that could be considered pornographic since last April, but he acknowledges filing other documents.
Thompson has abused the processes of the court with “constant abusive” and “numerous meritless filings,” the three-page show-cause order said.
“This court is now forced to limit Mr. Thompson’s ability to monopolize this court’s time,” the Supreme Court order said, citing restrictions on court filings in two other cases.
Thompson filed more than 46 items with the court that have been forwarded to Tunis, dismissed or denied, the court said. The latest have been “repetitive, frivolous and insult the integrity of the court.”
The court described one of Thompson’s recent filings in detail. He dubbed it a “children’s picture book for adults,” interspersing images with text in his motion due to “the court’s inability to comprehend” his arguments.
Images included “swastikas, kangaroos in court, a reproduced dollar bill, cartoon squirrels, Paul Simon, Paul Newman, Ray Charles, a handprint with the word ‘slap’ written under it, Bar Governor Benedict P. Kuehne, a baby, Ed Bradley, Jack Nicholson, Justice Clarence Thomas, Julius Caesar, monkeys, a house of cards,” the order said.
The Bar complaint against Thompson was based on the complaints of several judges and lawyers over his pointed e-mails, letters, faxes news releases and court documents about them.
Thompson claims his communications are covered by the First Amendment and claims the Bar and others are conspiring to get him disbarred.
Thompson said he plans to file a federal lawsuit against The Bar and the Florida Supreme Court in response to the show-cause order.
He had previously sued The Bar, alleging its disciplinary action against him was an attempt to strip him of his right to free speech and boot him from the legal profession. U.S. District Court Judge Adalberto Jordan in Miami dismissed the complaint, ruling that the state court system is the appropriate place for Thompson to seek any remedy.
The disciplinary proceedings against Thompson were conducted in November, and Tunis has until April 21 to submit her recommendations to the Supreme Court. Thompson has since sent a letter to U.S. Attorney General Michael Mukasey, where he refers to the show-cause order as a criminal act done in retaliation for his seeking relief with the court.
Alana Roberts can be reached at aroberts@alm.com or at (305) 347-6648.
I’m not be surprised.
LOL! Thompson is such a nitwit.
I wonder if this will prevent him from going after video games too.
Ah that Thompson. Every now and then a fleck of gold is captured amongst the detritus.
L
I can’t believe he still has a law license.
I don’t need some jackass “crusading” to tell me what I can and can’t look at.
Sounds like he might not have one for much longer....
I had more than my fill of Jack back in ‘98 and ‘99.
LMAO! What a loon.
However, a person has the right to 'crusade' against porn if they so choose.
Having said that, this particular 'crusader' appears to be a few sandwiches short of a picnic.
And that was the mild stuff.
Other filings were - to put it extremely mildly - extremely inappropriate.
Thompson is more if a pest and a crank than someone evil like Nifong. Still he does waste a lot of court time with his crap.
I don’t know that anyone is as evil as Nifong, but anybody who maliciously wastes the Court’s time (which is the people’s time, after all) can count as evil on his own.
btt
The attorney who has made a name for himself crusading against pornography was warned about his filings last April after he submitted “pornographic materials” to the court, the show-cause order said.
Was it from Jack’s personal inventory. I know I sound sarcastic, but anymore I think it could be true that he is the biggest porn watcher and collector. People have gotten so strange the last few years. Larry Craig against gay marriage turns out to be the biggest Queen in the Senate, etc.
He’s getting sanctioned again?
Quite the lawyer.
In the terms of a legal filing, where format and content are regulated, I’d say the following tend to support the judge’s instruction to stop:
</i>Images included “swastikas, kangaroos in court, a reproduced dollar bill, cartoon squirrels, Paul Simon, Paul Newman, Ray Charles, a handprint with the word ‘slap’ written under it, Bar Governor Benedict P. Kuehne, a baby, Ed Bradley, Jack Nicholson, Justice Clarence Thomas, Julius Caesar, monkeys, a house of cards,” the order said.</i>
Can you say contempt of court? He’s lucky he didn’t get jailed.
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