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Jack Thompson Sends Subpoena to Bush

Posted by ScuttleMonkey on Fri Sep 07, 2007 04:30 PM
from the oddly-this-used-in-his-defense-of-mental-instability dept.
Ariastis writes "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. Ah, and Jeb Bush too, for good measure."
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[+] Your Rights Online: Take Two Files Suit Against Jack Thompson 99 comments
Bullied writes "Take Two has tired of Jack Thompson's frivolous lawsuits and has filed a federal lawsuit in the Southern District of Florida to prevent him from filing any more 'nuisance' lawsuits. 'Take Two argues that the lawsuits violate its First Amendment rights to free expression, but it also claims that the suits are so vague as to be unconstitutional. "This unconstitutional vagueness will have a chilling effect on Plaintiff as well as Plaintiff's customers," says the company. "Plaintiff's distributors likely will respond to the uncertainty and fear of penalties by withholding Plaintiff's video games from the public."' Take Two also cites the disruptive effect Thompson's suits have on its retail partners."
[+] Games: Jack Thompson Responds to Take Two Suit 131 comments
interactive_civilian writes "Jack Thompson has personally replied to ArsTechnica regarding their coverage of the lawsuit from TakeTwo. Really, it's best for Jack to speak for himself: 'I have been praying, literally, that Take-Two and its lawyers would do something so stupid, so arrogant, so dumb, even dumber than what they have to date done, that such a misstep would enable me to destroy Take-Two. With the filing of this SLAPP lawsuit last week, my prayers are finally answered. This lawsuit, filed in US District Court for the Southern District of Florida, is, without a doubt, the single dumbest thing I have ever seen any lawyers do in my thirty years of practicing law--while in continuous good standing to do so with The Florida Bar, I might add, the shock radio and video game industry's efforts notwithstanding.'"
[+] Games: Kotaku Games Blog Sued By Jack Thompson 126 comments
Reacting to Kotaku's coverage of comments Thompson made last week about the VA Tech incident, Thompson has sued Kotaku and their parent company Gawker media. He also tried to sic the FBI on them (getting as much success there as he did with the Penny Arcade gents). From GamePolitics' coverage: "Thompson's ire was apparently raised by Kotaku reader comments which the attorney maintains are threatening. He also alleges in the complaint that Kotaku and Gawker declined to remove the menacing posts. The messages in question stem from Kotaku's coverage of Thompson's claims that video games prompted last week's Virginia Tech massacre. The Gawker suit is actually an amendment to an action Thompson filed on March 13th against the Florida bar. On April 11th he amended it to include the members of the Florida Supreme Court. And now Gawker joins the list of defendants."
[+] Games: Jack Thompson Sues Microsoft 574 comments
An anonymous reader writes to mention that Jack Thompson, in his latest bout of zealotry, has set his sights on Microsoft for their recent release of Halo 3. GameAlmighty has posted the letter to Bill Gates. "Here's the deal, Mr. Gates: Either Microsoft undertakes dramatic, real steps, through its marketing, wholesale, and retail operations to assure that Halo 3 is not sold, via the Internet and in stores, directly to anyone under 17, or I shall proceed to make sure that Microsoft is held to that standard by appropriate legal means. I have done that before successfully as to Best Buy, and I shall do so again as to Microsoft and all retailers of Halo 3."
[+] Your Rights Online: Jack Thompson Includes Gay Porn With Court Filing 333 comments
An anonymous reader writes "Jack Thompson has done it again, now by making available gay porn for unlimited viewing on public records. Judge Jordan wrote on an issued order: 'The attached exhibit, which includes several graphic images of oral and genital sex between adult males, was filed electronically in the docket in this case, without prior permission from the court... To the extent that the other attorney's alleged conduct is in any way relevant... there was no need for Mr. Thompson to file these graphic images in the public record. A simple reference to the website and its alleged links would have sufficed...'" I'm usually not a fan of giving Thompson continued free publicity, but some of the things he does are just too outlandish not to share.
[+] Games: Thompson Sues ESRB, Best Buy 134 comments
Well known anti-gaming lawyer Jack Thompson is following up on his clever sting operations against Best Buy. He's filed suit against the consumer electronics retailer for allegedly selling M-rated games to underage gamers. He has also included the ESRB in that suit. GamePolitics reports: "As we reported, the claim against Best Buy suit looks as if it will be going nowhere. Thompson has also apparently named the ESRB in the suit. That looks like a non-starter as well. His explanation: 'The ESRB has been sued by Thompson because it is well known that it a) is owned and operated by the video game industry, b) does not even play the games it rates to conclusion, c) routinely mislabels games as to age appropriateness, per testimony before the U.S. Congress, and is engaged in representations to American parents that the age label are accurate and are keeping "Mature" games out of the hands of kids.'"
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  • I'm torn (Score:5, Funny)

    by Trigun (685027) <evil@[ ]lempire.ath.cx ['evi' in gap]> on Friday September 07 2007, @04:32PM (#20513663) Homepage
    Is the enemy of my enemy my friend, or is he still an asshole?
  • by Tackhead (54550) on Friday September 07 2007, @04:32PM (#20513675)
    It's sorta like Alien vs. Predator, but backwards. Whoever loses, we win.
  • by Anonymous Coward on Friday September 07 2007, @04:33PM (#20513705)
    I bet you Slashbots are just foaming at the mouth.
  • jack thompson: greatest troll who ever lived
  • by MightyMartian (840721) on Friday September 07 2007, @04:34PM (#20513729) Journal
    The time is approaching when someone is going to have to put this guy in the nut house. I hope all those self-serving pandering politicians who like to align themselves with Thompson against the invented evils of video games start seriously considering the kind of delusional maniac they've decided is their ally.
  • by R2.0 (532027) on Friday September 07 2007, @04:37PM (#20513777)
    Ok, now that I've trolled in another post, I'm wondering if the folks trying to get him kicked out of the Bar could enter the subpoena ITSELF as evidence of JT's unfitness to practice law.
    • by MightyMartian (840721) on Friday September 07 2007, @04:40PM (#20513829) Journal

      Ok, now that I've trolled in another post, I'm wondering if the folks trying to get him kicked out of the Bar could enter the subpoena ITSELF as evidence of JT's unfitness to practice law.


      I don't know if it can be directly referenced or not. Is it necessary? The guy's record speaks for itself. This delicious piece of irony is just icing on the cake.

      I'm more concerned about his fitness to walk down the street. I really do think Thompson is completely out of his mind. I think what's needed after the disbarment is a 30 day psychiatric review in a closed facility. Maybe there's some meds they can give him.
  • by to_kallon (778547) on Friday September 07 2007, @04:38PM (#20513785)
    Jack is currently suing the mediator, Judge Dava Tunis, along with the Florida Supreme Court and the Florida Bar.

    like he's a lawyer, alright...
  • At least.. (Score:5, Insightful)

    by CokeJunky (51666) on Friday September 07 2007, @04:56PM (#20514057)
    he can claim that gaming has driven at least one person to raving lunacy... Himself! (at least in my personal opinion.)
  • by NJVil (154697) on Friday September 07 2007, @05:08PM (#20514241)
    George Bush sends Jack Thompson to Guantanamo
  • by swordgeek (112599) on Friday September 07 2007, @05:34PM (#20514555) Journal
    Someone asked me the other day about the difference between psychotic and psychopathic. Here it is laid out nicely.

    The psychotic Jack Thompson is sending a subpoena to the psychopathic George Bush.
  • by Runefox (905204) on Friday September 07 2007, @05:42PM (#20514675) Homepage
    Phoenix Wright, Ace Attorney!
  • Duck Hunt (Score:5, Funny)

    by wiredlogic (135348) on Friday September 07 2007, @05:48PM (#20514767)
    Jack better watch out. Some of out government officials have already been trained on violent video games. I hear Cheney is pretty good at Duck Hunt.
    • by mconeone (765767) on Friday September 07 2007, @04:35PM (#20513745)
      My guess is that it's to prove that if Bush can be completely incompetent and misguided as President, then Thompson has the right to do so as a lawyer.
        • Try again, this time understanding something about the structure of the court system in Florida. The Florida Bar is an agent of the Supreme Court of Florida:

          Article V, Section 15 of the Constitution of the State of Florida gives the Supreme Court of Florida exclusive and ultimate authority to regulate the admission of persons to the practice of law and the discipline of those persons who are admitted to practice. The Court performs those official functions through two separate arms: the Florida Board of Bar Examiners , which screens, tests and certifies candidates for admission to the practice; and The Florida Bar, the investigative and prosecutorial authority in the lawyer regulatory process. Neither of these two agencies, nor any of their functions, is supported by state tax dollars
          (source [floridabar.org])


    • by MightyMartian (840721) on Friday September 07 2007, @04:50PM (#20513981) Journal
      Get off your high horse. Jack Thompson is of interest around here, because of his links to the anti-gaming lobby. It's Friday, it's a hilarious story, and we're all enjoying it. You know who Thompson is, if you have been around for a while. That's like asking "Which Bill Gates? How should I know?"
    • by Anonymous Coward on Friday September 07 2007, @04:56PM (#20514071)
      You must be new here.
    • by eln (21727) * on Friday September 07 2007, @05:03PM (#20514185) Homepage
      That's a really nice rant, and I agree with you somewhat in your general assertion that Slashdot has drifted pretty far away from being a nerd site (WTF is up with the Politics section, for example). However, I have some issues:

      1.) I haven't been around quite as long as you have, but I don't recall the slogan ever being "News for Nerds on the Stuff that Matters". That may have been the original intent, but I don't think that was ever the actual slogan. The oldest page from Slashdot I could find on web.archive.org is from November, 1998 [archive.org], which was prior to the Andover.net buyout (thereby presumably before the major corporate influence began). On that page, the slogan is "News for Nerds. Stuff that Matters."

      Now, I grant you, prior to maybe 5 or 6 years ago, the "stuff that matters FOR NERDS" was sort of implied, but that hasn't really been the case for a long, long time.

      2.) Jack Thompson has been going after the gaming industry for a long time. Seeing his long, slow descent into madness is of great interest to gaming nerds, even if not to you particularly. Even if you decide that the site should be limited only to things that the typical nerd would care about (not your decision or mine to make), this still would fit that category.

      So, even though I agree with you that Slashdot in general has strayed pretty far from its roots (but what site this old hasn't), I disagree with you about this particular story.