Jack Thompson Sets His Sights On Halo 3 240
GamePolitics is reporting that anti-game advocate Jack Thompson is seeking to have Halo 3 declared a nuisance to the public in Florida. He tried the same stunt with Bully, and failed then too. "As with Bully, Thompson clearly hopes the court will grant him a hearing. Although after last year's well-publicized Bully performance, which earned Thompson a Bar complaint from presiding Judge Ronald Friedman, that seems unlikely. More troubling by far are the long term implications of this action. Thompson apparently feels emboldened to invoke Florida's public nuisance law against any video game he desires to target. That is the essence of censorship and the video game industry cannot allow it to continue on any number of grounds - legal, moral or creative."
Re:Payroll (Score:5, Informative)
He minus well get paid by Take two and Microsoft.
minus well? MINUS WELL? It's "might as well".
Re:Nuisance (Score:5, Informative)
These sorts of laws exist for your own protection. If you would choose to engage in these activities, then obviously you are ignorant of the harmful effect it can have on your life and afterlife. So if Jack thinks Halo is morally harmful to those who play it, then he's right and it will be banned as long as a majority of the people agree with him.
But seriously, we see stories like this in the news all the time, and we continue to fail to see the actual cause of the problem. People like Thompson and others are just using the system that is in place for their own gain. That makes them smart, not stupid. It is the system that is stupid. If ridiculous laws like this didn't exist to begin with, then ridiculous cases like Jack's would never even be heard in court.
Re:Why is he still allowed to practice law? (Score:5, Informative)
You don't need to be licensed in a state to practice there. You get admitted pro hac vice (literally "for the occasion"), and it's usually a rubberstamp thing as long as you have a valid license in another state. Thompson's behavior in the Alabama case was so abominable that he had his pro hac vice status revoked for that case, plus a requirement to attach the order to any further applications in Alabama. In other words, he's effectively been disbarred in that state.
Keep in mind that if Wacko Jacko gets disbarred in Florida, it will almost certainly be a temporary suspension of his license. It's virtually unheard of for a lawyer to be permanently disbarred for misconduct that isn't a felony or blatant ethics violation. Jack may have committed the latter on occasion, but most of his pleadings these days aren't for any client but himself.
Oh good GOD... (Score:1, Informative)
"Christian Conservative" is an oxymoron. So is "Christian Republican". From The Bible [holy-bible.us] (King James Version):
Luke 6:24 [holy-bible.us] "But woe unto you that are rich! for ye have received your consolation."
Luke 11:46 [holy-bible.us] "And he [Jesus] said, Woe unto you also, ye lawyers! for ye lade men with burdens grievous to be borne, and ye yourselves touch not the burdens with one of your fingers."
Luke 11:52 [holy-bible.us] "Woe unto you, lawyers! for ye have taken away the key of knowledge: ye entered not in yourselves, and them that were entering in ye hindered."
And that's just a few choice quotes from a single book. And guess what? God doesn't like bankers much, either (but that's a different topic).
-mcgrew [kuro5hin.org]