Failure Profile: Jack Thompson

It wasn’t hard to decide who was most deserving of our very first Failure Profile, where we profile an individual who has not only failed spectacularly, but has done it over, and over, and over again.  Due to his ongoing antics and failures of increasing bucket sizes, we present to you none other than crack-pot hack attorney, Jack Thompson.

John Bruce “Jack” Thompson, born July 25, 1951, is a certifiably insane Florida attorney.  He is known for his crazy antics surround his various failed attempts at litigation, lobbying, and strong-arming of various parties for various reasons.  He also has a fairly clear track-record indicating that he really has no personal conviction, allowing himself to be paid off to go away repeatedly throughout his sordid history.  He is likely most notably recognized for his recent attacks against violent video games, their publishers, and their retailers.

Drops in the Bucket

1. Nov. 1975 – Failure to be hired for a job as an assistant State’s Attorney in Dade County.
2. 1988 – Failed campaign bid for Dade County State Attorney against incumbent Janet Reno.
3. 1990 – Ordered to submit to a psychiatric examination by the Florida Supreme Court for making bat-shit crazy allegations against Switchboard of Miami.
4. 1991 – Thompson fails repeated attempts to censor and limit distribution the rap group N.W.A.’s albums.
5. 1992 – Thompson asked a Florida judge to declare the Florida Bar Association unconstitutional.  ’nuff said.
6. 1997 – Failed lawsuit against various video game publishing defendants regarding the Heath High School shooting due to failure to present a legally recognizable claim.
7. February 2003 – Failure to manipulate a court case into being applicable to his own political interests regarding the aggravated murder in the slaying of JoLynn Mishne.
8. October 2003 – Failed lawsuit in Tennessee state court against Take Two Interactive regarding Grand Theft Auto.
9. 2005 – Removed from another similar suit in Alabama due to unethical behavior, resulting in the revocation of Thompson’s temporary admission to the state bar.
10. 2005 – Failed lobbying of Alabama attorney general Troy King to file a civil suit and call on retailers not to sell “cop-killing games” in association with a murder case because investigators found no evidence that video games were involved.
11. 2005 – Failed lawsuit against major retailers to block Rockstar’s game “Bully” from being sold.
12. August 2006 – Failed attempt to get a congressional subpoena for an early release copy of Rockstar’s “Bully”.
13. Septermber 2006 – Failed lawsuit in Albuquerque, New Mexico against Sony, Take-Two, Rockstar Games, and Cody Posey, for the wrongful death of three members of Posey’s family.
14. February 2007 – The Florida Bar files disbarment proceedings against Thompson over allegations of professional misconduct.
15. April 2007 – Thompson settles a suit filed against him by Take-Two to prevent him from further trying to block sales of their games through litigation, threaten to sue them, or accuse Take-Two of any wrongdoing based on the sales of it’s games, which he then promptly disregards by doing exactly that.
16. May 2008 – Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Dava Tunis, after reviewing 2,400 pages of transcripts and 1,700 pages of exhibits, recommended that Thompson be found guilty of 27 of the 31 violations of which he had been accused in his disbarment proceedings.
17. June 2008 – Prosecutor Sheila Tuma recommended ‘enhanced disbarment’ for Thompson, saying that Thompson demonstrated continued misconduct, a pattern of misconduct and persistently failed to admit any wrongdoing.
18. July 2008 Judge Dava Tunis recommended permanent disbarment and a $43,675.35 fine for Thompson to the Florida Supreme Court

And those are just the highlights… All of the drops in the bucket listed above and many, many more are steeped in ridiculous antics, which you can read in full detail at Thompson’s Wikipedia page.  It’s really going to be hard to top this guy in future Failure Profiles, as he truly is the epitome of FAIL.  He’ll inevitably try to sue us I’m sure…

Person April 2007

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Tags: Alabama, antics, Bully, Cody Posey, crack-pot hack attorney, Dade County, disbarment, fine, Florida, Florida Bar, Grand Theft Auto, guilty, Heath High School, JoLynn Mishne, Judge Dava Tunis, litigation, N.W.A., professional misconduct, Rockstar Games, Sheila Tuma, sony, Switchboard of Miami, Take Two Interactive, unethical behavior