All gamers know Jack Thompson. Wherever there is a game that is generating a lot of buzz, Thompson is there telling the world at large just how damaging it is to the moral fabric of American society. He was in the news some weeks ago when Thompson stated that, in a surprising move, he was throwing in with EA in their attempts to acquire Take-Two Interactive. This certainly came as surprising news, for not only was Thompson supporting a video game company, but it was a company that he, according to GamePolitics.com, had previously criticized due to what he felt was unwholesome content in their Sims 2 title.

It seems that, at long last, the Judiciary Branch of the Florida State government are turning the tables on Thompson. Judge Dava Tunis, who was the presiding judge when Thompson was tried by the Florida Bar Association last year, has drafted a missive which contains very bad news for the vocal Florida attorney. Judge Tunis’s report contains the formal recommendation that Thompson be formally charged and found guilty of 27 out of 31 charges of professional misconduct. Thompson’s fate now passes up the ladder to the Florida Supreme Court who must deliver a formal ruling on whether or not to find Thompson guilty.

21 of these 27 charges made against Thompson are due to his involvement in the case of Strickland vs Sony. In that case, which was tried in Alabama, Thompson represented the relatives of the two police officers and the solitary police dispatcher who were killed by the 18-year old Devin Moore, who had been arrested on suspicion of stealing a car. One the day of the case, Thompson sent an e-mail to a number of websites stating his personal opinion of the case, stating that the sale of Grand Theft Auto by Sony and Take-Two Interactive was akin to the attack on Pearl Harbor by the naval forces of Imperial Japan and that selling video games with violent content was no different then the selling of pornography. Thompson later withdrew himself from the case of his own volition despite an appeal from Blank Rome, the law firm representing Sony, and a motion by the presiding judge James Moore to have Thompson’s license to practice revoked.

The four counts that Tunis discussed in the formal recommendation to the Florida Supreme Court concern a case which was heard by Miami Judge Ronald Friedman back in 2006. It was an attempt by Thompson to have Bully, another Rockstar title, legally declared a public nuisance and ended with the complaint being thrown out. Thompson also became the subject of a complaint by Judge Friedman who called Thompson’s actions in the case "inappropriate by a member of the bar, unprofessional and contemptible".

Judge Tunis has also listed a number of Thompson’s violations of the Florida Bar rules for which the judge advocated a guilty verdict. This list has been reproduced from the original GamePolitics article and runs as follows:

• Knowingly making a false statement of material fact or law to a tribunal
• Knowingly disobeying an obligation under the rules of a tribunal
• Communicating the merits of the case with a judge before whom the proceeding is pending
• Using means that have no purpose other than to embarrass, delay or burden a third person
• Engaging in conduct involving dishonesty, fraud, deceit or misrepresentation
• Engaging in conduct in connection with the practice of law that is prejudicial to the administration of justice, including to knowingly or through callous indifference disparage or humiliate litigants or other lawyers
• Making statements that the lawyer knows to be false or with reckless disregard as to the truth or falsity concerning the qualifications or integrity of a judge

Judge Tunis is due to complete the report for the Florida Supreme Court by September 2nd but, as a prelude of sorts, there will a disciplinary hearing on June 4th where it will be determined by Judge Tunis whether or not Thompson should be sanctioned. Thompson, however, is apparently not going down without a fight as he has made a variety of claims against Judge Tunis which include claims that loyalty oaths were not properly formalized and the Florida attorney has also begun suing both the Florida Bar and Florida Supreme Court in Federal Court in response to the Bar violations and the possible sanctions against him.

More information on this story will be carried right here on TheGameReviews.com, but for information on Thompson’s other legal appearances, both past and present, please visit www.gamepolitics.com.