Jack Thompson To Face Contempt Charge

Gamasutra has the story (by way of the currently-down GamePolitics) that Jack Thompson could be facing a contempt charge over his antics during the Bully fiasco. From the article: "According to the report, the contempt of court request could find Thompson facing jail time, though it is more likely that 'fines, judicial admonishment or censure' would result from this most recent turn of events. The report also notes that attorneys representing the Philadelphia law firm Blank-Rome have filed a 'Petition for Order to Show Cause,' which requires Thompson to illustrate to a judge why he should not be held in contempt."

I dislike him as much as the next guy...

[faloi]

The report also notes that attorneys representing the Philadelphia law firm Blank-Rome have filed a 'Petition for Order to Show Cause,' which requires Thompson to illustrate to a judge why he should not be held in contempt."

But can someone more legally inclined tell me why his response shouldn't be "because I'm innocent until proven guilty"?

It sounds like they've issued a petition to force Thompson to show he did no wrong.

Re:I dislike him as much as the next guy...

[smooth wombat]

My legal education is a bit fuzzy but your last sentence hits the nail on the head. The petition does exactly what the article states: Thompson has to tell the judge why he shouldn't be held in contempt for doing whatever it is the court told him not to do.

I haven't read the details but for the sake of argument let's say that the judge told both parties they couldn't do media interviews. Jack then turns around and does an interview with a family-friendly web site. That would be a contempt of court issue. The law firm is now trying to force Jack to explain why he shouldn't face whatever penalty the court said it would impose if either party talked to the media.

This is different from whether Jack has been shown to be guilty. In essence, the law firm is telling the court, "Jack did what you told him not to do. I want you to force him to tell you why he shouldn't suffer the penalty."

Oh, this it too funny

[dthree]

In an email to GamePolitics, Thompson has responded to this request, writing, "You want to play hardball...? You want to try to throw me in jail? You have no idea what you are unleashing in doing this. You're at the brink..."

Does he think Blank-Rome is some kind of hick law firm in a backwater town? I seriously doubt they are underestimating what Thompson can "unleash" at any given time. How many different ways does everyone have to tell this guy to STFU?

RTFA - This was the lawyers, not the judge

[billstewart]

This wasn't the judge accusing Thompson of contempt of court - this was Take-Two's lawyers asking the the judge to do that. They rattled Jack's cage, and he snarled at them. If they thought there was any realistic chance of the judge taking them up on it, it *would* have been hardball; the much more normal thing for them to have done would be to file some motion about frivilous lawsuits and ask the judge to award them legal costs. If Jack were a brighter guy, he'd have filed some response about "See, Judge, this just shows what Bullies these gamerszzzz are, and why they're a threat to society", but no, he's just snarling.

(I wanted to write "no, he's just snarling like the shark he jumped" or something along those lines, but you can only twist a metaphor so far, given that sharks don't actually snarl....)

Re:Know who you're dealing with

[Firehed]

Only an article on someone like Jack Thompson could make me even consider the idea that that wasn't the result of a page vandalism.

So... beautiful...

[Pancake Bandit]

This is the greatest thing I have ever read on slashdot. I have been waiting for years to see him get what's coming to him.

Re:Is it just me?

[SCPRedMage]

With their hands, yes.