Jack Thompson Disbarred for Life
Today, the Florida Supreme Court upheld a recommendation to permanently disbar controversial attorney Jack Thompson from ever practicing law in that state again.
“The Court agrees that respondent is not amenable to rehabilitation,” read the decision in part.
As part of the decision, Thompson will have thirty days to shut down his practice. He will also have to help find new attorneys for clients who will now be in limbo.
When news broke of the decision this afternoon, the gaming community as a whole–both fans and developers alike–let out a collective cheer. Kotaku has even been reporting on the sight of numerous parties being held in light of the decision, complete with cake and other festive arrangements. One display they show purportedly comes from an unnamed game development house.
But if you think this is the final chapter in the Thompson saga, think again.
Thompson file a civil rights lawsuit on Friday naming as defendants, among others, the Florida Supreme Court, current and former Florida Bar officers, and Judge Dava Tunis, the judge who oversaw his disbarment trial. It should be noted that he is technically not allowed to file suit as a licensed attorney in that state without another attorney in good standing signing off on it. An official press release has been sent out to the media, and it reads in part:
Miami attorney Jack Thompson, nationally and internationally known by virtue of his effective and successful opposition over the last 20 years to the broadcast, marketing, and sale of adult-rated entertainment to children, has just been informed by the Florida Supreme Court that he has been disbarred from the practice of law today.
This disbarment is in retaliation, among other things, for Thompson’s Tyndale House book Out of Harm’s Way, published in 2005, which blew the whistle on the Florida Supreme Court’s earlier efforts in the 1990’s to literally pathologize his faith-based and successful activism against the American entertainment industry. The Florida Bar’s insurance carrier was forced to pay Thompson money damages for that earlier assault upon his First Amendment rights, which is the only known payment of damages by any state bar to any lawyer for improper disciplinary efforts. It appears that the State of Florida will be paying Thompson more damages this time around for its illegal, now repeated, use of “discipline” to punish a Christian lawyer for his activism in the public square.
The timing of this disbarment transparently reveals its motivation: This past Friday Thompson filed a federal civil rights action against The Bar, the Supreme Court, and all seven of its Justices. This rush to disbarment is in retribution for the filing of that federal suit. With enemies this foolish, Thompson needs only the loyal friends he has.
Thompson looks forward to successfully litigating his federal claims, now before US District Court Judge Marcia Cooke in the Southern District of Florida.
Thompson always wanted to own a Bar. Now, armed with multiple US Supreme Court rulings that no state bar can do what it has done to Thompson, he is set to own that Bar.
Don’t consider this it a done deal yet. We will continue to monitor Jack Thompson’s attempts to clear his name and practice law again. Anything can happen, and we suspect this will be a long, drawn out process.
