Free Republic

A conservative activist best known as a crusader against violent video games is lobbying the Cuyahoga County (Ohio) prosecutor’s office to consider a criminal menacing charge against Donald Trump surrogate Roger Stone after he threatened to publicize the hotel room numbers of Republican National Convention delegates who vote for presidential candidates other than Trump. Jack Thompson, who has appeared on “60 Minutes” touting a connection between real-world violence and games like “Grand Theft Auto,” sent a letter on Thursday to prosecutor Timothy J. McGinty, contending that Stone might have violated Ohio laws against menacing and aggravated menacing. The GOP convention...

A long-time critic of the video game industry has sued Facebook for US$40 million, saying that the social networking site harmed him by not removing angry postings made by Facebook gamers. The lawsuit was filed Tuesday in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida by Jack Thompson. Thompson is best know for bringing suit against Grand Theft Auto's Take Two Interactive, Sony Computer Entertainment America, and Wal-Mart, arguing that the game caused violent behavior. In 2005 episode of CBS's 60 Minutes, Thompson likened the popular video game to a "murder simulator" and blamed it for the 2003...

Hot off the press... Be warned - it's a 169-page pdf file. Get it here. UPDATE: In addition to her recommendation that Jack Thompson be permanently disbarred with no opportunity for reinstatement, Judge Tunis recommends an assessment of $43,675 for the costs incurred by the Florida Bar in prosecuting his case.

Thompson says You don't know Jack Jack Thompson, the infamous attorney that has been a factor in multiple anti-video game lawsuits, reportedly walked out of a hearing before the Florida Bar Association today. Thompson’s hearing went on without him and the Florida Bar Association recommended Thompson be disciplined with an “enhanced disbarment” stipulating that Thompson can’t apply to practice law again for a decade. ***** Thompson filed a massive and rambling 14 page document he titled “Thompson’s Formal Objection to June 4 Sanctions “Hearing””. Thompson points out in the opening lines of his objections that, “I depart from the traditional...

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...

Jack Thompson has issued a press release suggesting the U.S. Department of Defense is involved in an "unholy alliance" with the gaming industry, with the aim of turning kids into violent, remorseless killers. According to a report by GamePolitics, Thompson said he will be training his guns on the U.S. military in the new year as a result of its continued collaboration with the game industry. In a press release, Thompson said one of the results of this partnership is "the increasing number of commando-style assaults by young gamers," citing the recent killings in Omaha, Nebraska as evidence of his...

Controversial Miami attorney Jack Thompson faces the start of an ethics trial this morning which could see him disbarred. The Florida Bar is pursuing several complaints concerning Thompson’s professional conduct in court cases against the video game industry. As reported by GamePolitics, Thompson’s bid to block the trial failed last week when U.S. District Court Judge Adalberto Jordan dismissed his suit against the Florida Bar and Judge Dava Tunis, the referee appointed by the Florida Supreme Court to preside over the case. Thompson’s attempt to add myself and the Entertainment Consumers Association (ECA) as co-defendants in that federal suit also...

Controversial Miami attorney Jack Thompson has indicated that he plans to file a video game-related lawsuit today against electronics retailer Best Buy in Miami-Dade Circuit Court. Thompson, embroiled in an increasingly desperate struggle with the Florida Bar to save his law license, asserts that Best Buy is selling M-rated games to minors. He will base his suit on Florida’s Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act which he claimsthat Best Buy is violating by offering M-rated games for sale on its website. In a letter to the retailer’s corporate counsel, Thompson writes: Best Buy, despite promises made to the American people...

The frequent video game critic, already facing professional misconduct charges from the Florida Bar which could see him stripped of his license to practice law, has outraged a U.S. District Court judge by including images of men having sex in a document filed with the court last week. .... His Honor was not amused. In an order issued on Monday, Judge Jordan directed Thompson to show cause as to why he should not face sanctions, including possible contempt charges. Judge Jordan wrote: The attached exhibit, which includes several graphic images of oral and genital sex between adult males, was filed...

Jack Thompson has filed documents with a federal court in Florida requesting to subpoena President George W. Bush for a deposition to retain Thompson’s license to practice law. Thompson, the bane of gamers everywhere, is in the midst of two ethic complaints which were filed by the Florida Bar and will face a court appointed mediator on November 26th. Wacky Jacky is currently suing the mediator, Judge Dava Tunis, along with the Florida Supreme Court and the Florida Bar. Thompson’s reasons for subpoenaing The President are a bit esoteric and would make great fodder for an X-Files episode or anything...

According to GamePolitics, the Florida Bar proposed late last week that anti-game activist and attorney, Jack Thompson, submit to psychological testing and accept a 91-day suspension of his law license. The interesting part? This isn't the first time. Thompson is currently locked in a pair of federal lawsuits against the Bar, and the latter decided to hold a disciplinary hearing against Thompson based on several complaints. These complaints center on the attorney's professional - or lack thereof - conduct when involved in recent court battles with the likes of Grand Theft Auto and Bully. Thus far, the June 25 hearing...

hus ain't got nothin' on Jack Thompson. The infamous anti-games lawyer, who former ESA head Doug Lowenstein said should be ignored by the gaming press, is suing Take-Two Interactive to prevent the sale of Manhunt 2 and Grand Theft Auto IV. Thompson plans to file suit the week of March 19 and he is looking to "prevent the sale of two hyperviolent video games set to be released this year and sold to anyone under 17 years of age." Which reads like two objectives. In the following paragraph, the clarification is that the games shouldn't be sold to anyone under...

According to a report from gaming legislation news site GamePolitics, anti-game lawyer Jack Thompson has himself come under fire from lawyers representing publisher Take-Two Interactive, who have called for Thompson to be held in contempt of court. While it remains unclear as to the exact nature of this request, it most likely stems from comments following Thompson's most recent failed attempt to prevent the recently released controversial title Bully from being sold in Florida. Thompson had originally requested that he be provided with an advance copy of Bully in order to help determine if the game should be considered “a...

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. -- Family members of three people slain by a 14-year-old on newsman Sam Donaldson's New Mexico ranch sued the makers of the video game "Grand Theft Auto: Vice City" on Monday, claiming the crimes would not have occurred had the teenager never played the violent game. The $600 million lawsuit names several companies and Cody Posey, who it alleges played the game "obsessively" for several months before he shot his father, stepmother and stepsister in July 2004.... The games and others in the "Grand Theft Auto" series depict police killings and other acts of violence. The lawsuit calls...

Howard Stern may be coming down with a Sirius case of the bleeps. High-level executives of the satellite broadcaster are developing an internal standards-and-practices document that will set boundaries for Stern and other shock jocks, The Post has learned. “It’s something that’s being taken very seriously," a Sirius source said. Stern's new show also is being broadcast on a time-delay, giving him the opportunity to censor the program — which he already has done. Stern moved to Sirius in part because satellite-radio services such as Sirius and XM — unlike free terrestrial radio — are not policed by the FCC,...

Jack Thompson first contacted Netjak around New Year�s Day, when he wrote me personally to object to how I talked about his Modest Video Game Proposal in my 2005 Year In Review. In response, I wrote an open letter to Thompson, and sent him the link. He again complained about the coverage, and invited me to give him a call and interview him. On Monday, January 9th, I left a message for Thompson and he called me back later in the day. Over the course of the interview, he was unfailingly polite to me, sure of his cause, and proud...

No, your eyes are not deceiving you. Jack Thompson has purchased shares in Take-Two interactive - otherwise known as the publisher behind the Grand Theft Auto series of games. So has JT suddenly become a financial supporter of the company he's long campaigned against? Not a chance. JT has purchased stock in the company in order that he might attend Take-Two's shareholder meetings and face up to the company's CEO, Paul Eibeler. In advance of attending the shareholder's meeting, he sent a ranting letter to Eibeler, outlining his plan to attend the meeting and visit several issues that have been...

Jack Thompson will give $10,000 to charity if any videogame company makes and releases a game based on a scenario he created. Miami, Florida Attorney Jack Thompson, a long-time outspoken critic of violent and sexually explicit videogames, has done something totally unexpected. Thompson today actually proposed a violent videogame, and will pay $10,000 to the favorite charity of Paul Eibeler (the Chairman of Take-Two Interactive) if any videogame company will "create, manufacture, distribute, and sell a video game in 2006" based on a scenario he created. Thompson's proposal is titled A Modest Video Game Proposal and has been sent to...

Controversial attorney thrown off of GTA lawsuit November 21, 2005 - Controversial Miami-based attorney Jack Thompson has been removed from a lawsuit filed by the families of two slain police officers and a police dispatcher against Sony, Rockstar Games, and game retailers. Furthermore, the judge in the case revoked Thompson's license to practice law in the state of Alabama citing Thompson's behavior as the cause of the sanction. In our previous coverage of the trial, we reported that Thompson had voluntarily withdrawn from the case because he felt that the "other side [meaning the trial defendents] wants to make me...

GP has never seen an attorney put out a press release hyping the opening day of a lawsuit before, but we've just received one from Jack Thompson. It is a quite remarkable document in many ways, and reads in part: "This Thursday, November 3, 2005, at 1 pm the Alabama fireworks ignite in the Fayette County Courthouse. This may make the OJ Simpson trials look like quilting bees." "Defendants Sony, Take-Two/Rockstar, Wal-Mart, GameStop, and cop killer Devin Moore have all been sued for their respective roles in the June 2003 murder of two police officers and a dispatcher. The corporate...