ACSBlog: The Blog of the American Constitution Society: How Not To Speak To a Judge
ACSBlog: The Blog of the American Constitution Society: How Not To Speak To a Judge:
Florida attorney Jack Thompson recently lost a case seeking to enjoin the sale of "Bully", a video game which puts the player in the shoes of a high school ruffian. In response to his loss, Thompson delivered a letter to the judge in the case:
Dear Judge Friedman:
Now that you have consigned innumerable children to skull fractures, eye injuries from slingshots, and beatings with baseball bats, without a hearing as to the danger, let me tell you a few things, with all respect for your office and with no respect for the arbitrary way in which you handled this matter. I can handle an adverse ruling by a judge. I’ve had plenty of those in my lifetime, and that’s fine. But the way you conducted yourself today helps explain why a great Dade County Judge, the late Rhea Pincus Grossman, could not abide you. She was not the only one . . . .
Thompson, who said of himself that "I am a Christian. I am not charged with winning these battles; I am charged with fighting them. I have done the right thing," concludes his letter with a threat to the judge:
Next time you promise a “hearing,” I’ll bring a parent with me whose kid is in the ground because of a kid who trained to kill him or her on a violent video game. Try mocking that person, I dare you.
The full text of the letter is available here.