High-profile videogame opponent Jack Thompson will no longer be able to file documents in Florida court following a ruling on a show cause order issued last month.
According to a GamePolitics report, the Florida Supreme Court has sanctioned Thompson, meaning if he wishes to file documents with the Florida Court, he will have to hire an attorney to do so on his behalf. The action comes as the result of a show cause order issued in February which said Thompson must “show cause on or before March 5, 2008, why this Court should not find that you have abused the legal process and impose upon you a sanction for abusing the legal system,” which would include the rejection of any future filings submitted by Thompson himself. At the time, Thompson called the order “the single greatest gift any court has ever given (him)” and claimed he would “deconstruct” the Florida Bar by way of a federal lawsuit.
In its ruling, the Court pointed out that Thompson had been warned that he would face sanction if he continued his inappropriate filings, but that despite this, “Thompson has submitted over fifty filings directly with this Court, all of which have either been forwarded to the referee, dismissed, or denied. Additionally, Thompson’s most recent filings are repetitive, frivolous, and, like his earlier ones, insulting to the Court.” The ruling went on to describe one of his most recent filings in which Thompson “pasted images depicting swastikas, kangaroos in court, a reproduced dollar bill, cartoon squirrels, Paul Simon, Paul Newman, Ray Charles, a handprint with the world “SLAP!” written under it, Bar Governor Benedict P. Kuehne, a baby, Ed Bradley, Jack Nicholson, Justice Clarence Thomas, Julius Caesar, monkeys, and a house of cards.”
Noting Thompson’s ongoing “ignorance as to the rules of procedure, forum selection, and timing,” the Court wrote, “In sanctioning Thompson, we are requiring him to retain qualified counsel so that his arguments might be properly presented through the appropriate procedures in the appropriate forum. We do not limit such counsel’s ability to challenge the referee’s findings and recommendations on review. What we cannot tolerate, however, is Thompson’s continued inability to maintain a minimum standard of decorum and respect for the judicial system to which all litigants, and especially attorneys, must adhere.”
In an emailed response, referred to the Court’s order as both “good news” and “idiotic.” The full text of the Florida Supreme Court sanction of Jack Thompson is available here. (PDF format)
Published: Mar 20, 2008 05:30 pm