The ongoing adventures of ex-lawyer Jack Thompson and the government of Utah continue as Thompson threatens the entire state legislature with legal action over the anti-game bill’s (timely) death.
To recap: America’s favorite former lawyer helped co-author Utah HB-353, a bill that would impose harsh penalties on game retailers that claimed they would not sell mature games to minors but did anyway. HB-353 passed the Utah House as well as the Senate – but met a surprising death when Utah Governor Jon Huntsman unexpectedly vetoed the bill.
Whatever positive relationship Thompson might have once had with members of the Utah state legislature soured quickly thereafter, with Thompson accusing the Utahans (Utonians? Uties?) of pandering to peddlers of pornography, and the Utah politicians accusing Jack Thompson of being totally batsh*t and spamming their email.
Of course, saying that Jack Thompson doesn’t know when to give up is sort of like saying that Hideo Kojima is just a little crazy. GamePolitics reports that Thompson has threatened to call the wrath of the F.B.I. down on all 104 members of the Utah Senate and House of Representatives for “violating his civil rights.”
This latest howling frenzy comes after Utah Rep. Curtis Oda joined State Senate President Michael Waddoups – who asked the Utah Attorney General to look into prosecuting Thompson for spam after the lawyer mailed legislators pictures of strippers giving GTA4 protagonist Niko Bellic a lap-dance – in objecting to Thompson’s zany antics. While we haven’t seen what Rep. Oda actually said to (or about) Thompson, we do know that the former lawyer circulated an email on Sunday threatening bloody murder:
If I get one more threat of criminal prosecution for sending you all proof, as I have, that pornographic video games are being sold to children in Utah because of the willful refusal of your Attorney General to enforce your state’s pornography laws, then I will add ALL of you to the sworn criminal complaint now in the hands of the FBI in Salt Lake City. You will be identified as co-conspirators to violate 18 USC 241 and 242…
Maybe the real problem here is that Utah, as a recent study proves, leads the nation in consumption of on-line porn. Maybe some among you are into this stuff, and you feel threatened…
I’m not going to put up with it. I’ve taken down some of the largest pornographers in the world. Taking down your legislature will be a piece of cake by comparison.
Well, Jacko, we all know where biting off more than you can chew got you last time, don’t we? If I may quote the Bard: “it is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.”
On a mostly-unrelated note: “Jack Thompson and the Government of Utah” sounds almost like an awesome fantasy novel, doesn’t it? The intrepid ex-lawyer braving a harsh and untamed land – kind of like Conan the Barbarian, only with less naked chicks.
(Via Kombo)
Published: May 27, 2009 03:09 pm