Lawyer Walks Out of Hearing, Misses 10-Year Disbarment Recommendation
Anti-porn crusader Jack Thompson walked out of his discipline hearing yesterday after the judge refused to let him talk about his objection to the proceedings.
The hearing then proceeded as bar counsel Sheila Tuma recommended that Thompson be disbarred for at least 10 years for disciplinary violations, the Daily Business Review reports. The recommendation is based on findings that Thompson made disparaging comments about litigants and lawyers, and lied to tribunals.
During the hearing Tuma mentioned an affidavit by Tew Cardenas partner Lawrence Kellogg, who said Thompson had sent the firm more than 100 e-mails criticizing him and another partner.
The Florida Supreme Court also took action against Thompson after he submitted several filings it deemed to be “rambling, argumentative, and contemptuous.” The court barred Thompson from making any more filings without the signature of an outside lawyer. Thompson was seeking to stop the disciplinary proceedings and in one filing he interspersed his arguments with images of swastikas and kangaroos in a court.
Dava Tunis, the Miami judge overseeing the disciplinary proceeding, said she would not allow Thompson to make a speech at a hearing scheduled to consider aggravating and mitigating factors. “If you have something in writing, I would gladly accept it,” she said.
Thompson then distributed his written objections, giving one copy to a newspaper reporter, and left the courtroom. The papers called the hearing a “star chamber” and “kangaroo court.” He contends the bar is interfering with his First Amendment rights by trying to silence him.
Outside the courtroom, Thompson told the Daily Business Review, “I can’t object to the legitimacy of the proceedings and then participate in them.”
