In the late nineties a lawyer based out of Miami-Dade County Florida named Jack Thompson
started a one man war on the video game industry.
Through political activism and a series of lawsuits he sought to restrict the sale of
videogames to minors.
Through his activism Thompson became the face of video game censorship for over a decade
until he fell into obscurity.
Thompson started his work as an activist in the1980s.
As early as 1985 Thompson made public statements over sexually obscene material and in 1987
Thompson went after local Miami radio station WIOD for airing allegedly obscene music.
After helping to convince the FCC to fine the radio station, he entered into public
conflict with the station over the airing of his name and private information.
When Dade County state attorney Janet Reno refused to prosecute the station, Thompson
decided to run against her for the position.
During the campaign Thompson questioned Reno’s sexual orientation and accused her of battery
for putting her arm on his shoulder, an action he later expressed regret for.
Thompson did not win the election but continued his activism, targeting rap music and working
to get Florida authorities to restrict the sale of explicit music.
However it wasn’t until the 1997 Heath High School shooting that Thompson got involved
with video games.
In 1999 he joined parents of the victims in a $130 million dollar law suit against several
companies including Nintendo, Sony, and Sega.
In the lawsuit Thompson alleged that video games, pornography and other media had desensitized
the shooter, and that shooting games had given him skills such as marksmanship and ammo conservation.
The courts did not agree, and dismissed the lawsuit on a number of grounds; however they
did not affirm that videogames were categorically protected by the first amendment of the US
constitution.
Writing for the 6th circuit court of appeals, Judge Boggs said:
“Our decision here today should not be interpreted as a broad holding on the protected status
of video games, but as a recognition of the particular manner in which James seeks to
regulate them through tort liability.”
It actually wasn't until June 27th, 2011 that the courts settled this issue, when the US
Supreme Court ruled that videogames have first amendment protection.
Despite the failure of his lawsuit, it launched Thompson into national spotlight.
Thompson was determined to strike a blow against the video game industry and restrict the sale
of games to minors.
To this end, Thompson’s activism focused on two areas, public advocacy for stricter
laws, and lawsuits designed to punish videogame publishers for their alleged role in promoting
criminal behavior.
As a lawyer Thompson served in court cases in Kentucky, Ohio, Alabama, Tennessee, and
New Mexico.
In these cases he attempted to recover damages from video game companies in relation to violent
crimes committed by those who played their games.
However in no case were his efforts successful, as none of these lawsuits resulted in victories
for Thompson’s clients.
However Thompson saw slightly more success as a lobbyist.
Thompson believed that a blanket ban on the sale of M rated games to minors would not
meet constitutional tests.
However, he did believe that laws applying the Miller Obscenity test, used to restrict
the sale of pornography, could be successfully applied to violent videogames.
Thompson helped to write a 2006 Louisiana law which did just that.
Louisiana House bill 1381 was passed by the state legislature, and signed into law.
The law did not ban the sale of all violent games or even define violence.
Instead it restricted sale of games to minors based on three criteria:
Whether “an average person, applying contemporary community standards, would find that the video
or computer game, taken as a whole, appeals to the minor’s morbid interest in violence,”
whether “a game depicts violence in a manner patently offensive to prevailing standards
in the adult community with respect to what is suitable for minors" or whether “a game,
taken as a whole, lacks serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value for
minors.”
Thompson believed that this law would survive where previous laws had failed, however U.S.
District Judge James Brady quickly ruled the law unconstitutional, and expressed incredulity
that the legislature even tried to pass such a clearly unconstitutional act.
However US legislators continued to try and pass similar laws until, as mentioned, the
Supreme Court definitively ruled on the issue in 2011.
But by 2011 Thompson’s activism had mostly stopped due to legal difficulties.
Thompson was known for his confrontational style.
Many times Thompson clashed with judges, media figures, politicians and the governing body
for Lawyers in Florida: the Florida bar.
While this helped Thompson bring attention to his cause, it ultimately led to the end
of his legal career.
Thompson’s downfall began in 2005 when he took on an Alabama lawsuit representing the
victims of police shooter Devin Moore.
Who, upon capture was reported to have said: "Life is a video game.
Everybody's got to die sometime."
Thompson railed against the video game industry for Moore’s actions.
In particular he blamed Grand Theft Auto III and Vice City which Moore played and sued
Sony and Take-two interactive for damages.
Thompson was a long time enemy of Take-Two entertainment and their Grand Theft Auto series.
He once called Grand theft auto IV: "the gravest assault upon children in this country since
polio," And during the Moore lawsuit compared Sony’s distribution of the game series in
America to the Japanese Empire’s attack on Pearl Harbor.
During the Moore case Thompson clashed with Sony and Take-Two’s lawyer from the law
firm Black Rome.
Black Rome attempted to get Thompson removed from the case.
In return Thompson accused Jim Smith; the attorney from Black Rome, of lying to the
judge’s face.
Thompson’s behavior during the case irked Judge James Moore, who striped Thompson of
his temporary license to practice law in Alabama.
The aftermath of the Moore case led to the Florida bar filing disbarment proceedings
against Thompson for alleged professional misconduct.
The law firm Black Rome accused Thompson of a series of disparaging emails, letters and
court pleadings.
Thompson was further accused of making false statements, representing clients in Alabama
without a license or visiting status, and defying a judge’s orders.
31 rule violations were filed overall and judge Dava Tunis ruled Thompson guilty on
27 counts, saying: “Over a very extended period of time involving
a number of totally unrelated cases and individuals, the Respondent has demonstrated a pattern
of conduct to strike out harshly, extensively, repeatedly and willfully to simply try to
bring as much difficulty, distraction and anguish to those he considers in opposition
to his causes.
He does not proceed within the guidelines of appropriate professional behavior, but
rather uses other means available to intimidate, harass, or bring public disrepute to those
whom he perceives oppose him.”
Thompson fought hard against his disbarment, at one point declaring it to be null and challenging
the Florida bar to try stopping him from practicing law.
But his attempts to overturn the ruling failed.
Thompson’s disbarment deeply affected him.
In a 2016 interview with Inverse, Thompson said that after he went into depression for
about three years.
His public activism died down during this period, though he continued to occasionally
make news, such as his 2009 attempt to sue Facebook for threats to his personal safety.
But by 2014 he had fallen away from the public eye and his activism on video games seemed
to have come to an end.
Though he is no longer an activist, as of 2016 Thompson continues to defend his ideas
on video games.
Speaking of his lost court cases, he said: “Every lawsuit ever brought against the
tobacco companies for decades was a failure, until suddenly one got through and that opened
the floodgates.
I believe that’s my legacy.
A much more skilled attorney than I ever was is going to break through.”
In what he calls the last chapter of his life, Thompson now volunteers his time teaching
classes in American History and civics to inmates of the Florida correctional system.
Authorities have instructed him that his classes must be politically centrist, which Thompson
agreed to.
Censored Gaming will continue to cover the history of video game censorship, as well
as any current efforts to restrict the sale of games.
Let us know what censorship issues you would like to see us cover in the comment section,
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