Anti-Porn Lawyer Wins Round in Judge Dispute
An anti-porn crusading lawyer says he is no longer at risk of being referred to a court ad hoc grievance committee for attaching gay-sex photos to a court filing.
Florida lawyer Jack Thompson says the judge vacated an order to show cause why he should not be referred to the committee in a hearing yesterday. “The judge permanently vacated his show cause order, and I won,” Thompson said in an e-mail to ABAJournal.com.
U.S. District Judge Adalberto Jordan of Miami had earlier said Thompson had failed to take responsibility for the effects of the “indecent, obscene and offensive” filing and initially referred him to the committee. Later Jordan rescinded that decision and gave Thompson a chance to defend himself in yesterday’s hearing.
Thompson says he filed the photos to make a point about a double standard by the Florida Bar, which has taken no action against a lawyer who linked to the photos on his Web site. His suit against the bar seeks to halt bar action against him for criticizing two judges.
Jordan has not filed a written order confirming the action so Thompson filed a motion (PDF) today asking him to do so.
“Plaintiff asks that the court enter an order in this regard, so those who would try to use this court and the Florida Bar to destroy what is left of Thompson’s career cannot so readily do so,” Thompson wrote.
