Judge Trashes Louisiana Govt. Over Failed Jack Thompson Law, Orders State to Pay Legal Fees
Judge Trashes Louisiana Govt. Over Failed Jack Thompson Law, Orders State to Pay Legal Fees
April 16, 2007
The U.S. District Court Judge who ruled that Louisiana's Jack Thompson-authored 2006 video game law was unconstitutional has ordered the state to pay the video game industry's legal fees, to the tune of $92,000.In his ruling, Judge James Brady (left) issued a blistering criticism of the Louisiana legislative process which led to the passage of the law:
The court is dumbfounded that the attorney general and the state are in the position of having to pay taxpayer money as attorneys fees and costs in this lawsuit. The act which this court found unconstitutional passed through committees in both the State House and Senate, and to be promptly signed by the Governor.
There are lawyers at each stage of this process. Some of the members of these committees are themselves lawyers. Presumably, they have staff members who are attorneys as well. The State House and Senate certainly have staff members who are attorneys. The governor has additional attorneys - the executive counsel.
Prior to the passage of the Act there were a number of reported cases from a number of jurisdictions which held similar statutes to be unconstitutional (and in which the defendant was ordered to pay substantial attorney's fees). The Court wonders why nobody objected to the enactment of this statute. In this court's view the taxpayers deserve more from their elected officials.
Despite Judge Brady's surprisingly frank repudiation of both the video game law and the process that led to its passage, bill sponsor Rep. Roy Burrell (D) told Acadiana TV station KATC-3 he may try to pass another such bill in the future.
GamePolitics has the most complete coverage of the volatile Louisiana video game situation available anywhere.
A PUBLICATION OF THE ECA
SUBSCRIBE
LOGINGamePolitics ShoutBox
Posted 11/07/09 at 10:58am
JDKJ: Which could be explained by both (a) and (b).
JDKJ: Which could be explained by both (a) and (b).
Posted 11/07/09 at 10:56am
Austin_Lewis: JDKJ: You forgot C) the fact that, for some reason, every time he did something that would suggest he shouldn't be in the military, let alone an officer, higher ups ignored it or let it slide.
Austin_Lewis: JDKJ: You forgot C) the fact that, for some reason, every time he did something that would suggest he shouldn't be in the military, let alone an officer, higher ups ignored it or let it slide.
Posted 11/07/09 at 10:51am
JDKJ: Part of the problem is, I believe, that (a) the Army had a lot of time and money already invested in him and which they were unwilling to simply write-off and (b) an increasing need for the type of skills and services he provided.
JDKJ: Part of the problem is, I believe, that (a) the Army had a lot of time and money already invested in him and which they were unwilling to simply write-off and (b) an increasing need for the type of skills and services he provided.
Posted 11/07/09 at 10:48am
JDKJ: And that even if he was begging not to get cut loose, he was apparently a real good candidate for being cut loose, anyway.
JDKJ: And that even if he was begging not to get cut loose, he was apparently a real good candidate for being cut loose, anyway.
Posted 11/07/09 at 10:11am
JDKJ: @chada: And while Kennedy once noted that there's usually more than enough blame for everyone to get a slice, the possibility that the Army was unwilling to cut loose someone who was asking to get cut loose could be a factor.
JDKJ: @chada: And while Kennedy once noted that there's usually more than enough blame for everyone to get a slice, the possibility that the Army was unwilling to cut loose someone who was asking to get cut loose could be a factor.
Posted 11/07/09 at 10:07am
ZippyDSMlee: *noms on his feet*..nomnomnomnom*droooll* ...wuuutttttt uuu looking at?
ZippyDSMlee: *noms on his feet*..nomnomnomnom*droooll* ...wuuutttttt uuu looking at?
Posted 11/07/09 at 10:05am
JDKJ: I'm no psychologist, but I'm told that crazy people have a tendency to do crazy things.
JDKJ: I'm no psychologist, but I'm told that crazy people have a tendency to do crazy things.
Posted 11/07/09 at 10:03am
chadachada321: Whoops, was out of the convo for awhile. I do wonder what type of ammo he used etc, but the real issue is WHY he did it, not HOW
chadachada321: Whoops, was out of the convo for awhile. I do wonder what type of ammo he used etc, but the real issue is WHY he did it, not HOW
Posted 11/07/09 at 09:56am
JDKJ: But if it turns out that they actually did, they'll have Hell to pay.
JDKJ: But if it turns out that they actually did, they'll have Hell to pay.
Posted 11/07/09 at 09:45am
JDKJ: And I'd tend to rule out the possibilty of FN Herstal supplying restricted ammunition to someone merely because they're ordering it from a military base.
JDKJ: And I'd tend to rule out the possibilty of FN Herstal supplying restricted ammunition to someone merely because they're ordering it from a military base.
Posted 11/07/09 at 09:37am
JDKJ: I know you don't leave your gated community and get around much in dark alleys, so you may be surprised to learn that there's this thing called "the black market" where, if you've got enough money, ain't too much of anything which can't be bought.
JDKJ: I know you don't leave your gated community and get around much in dark alleys, so you may be surprised to learn that there's this thing called "the black market" where, if you've got enough money, ain't too much of anything which can't be bought.
Posted 11/07/09 at 09:36am
Austin_Lewis: Or, maybe he or someone else at the base ordered the SS190 from FN Herstal.
Austin_Lewis: Or, maybe he or someone else at the base ordered the SS190 from FN Herstal.
Posted 11/07/09 at 09:32am
Austin_Lewis: the hands of private owners. They run about 300 dollars minimum for a box of 50, and boxes of AP 5.7 are extremely scarce, mainly residing in the hands of Class III stores or individuals who for one reason or another got a demo box of it.
Austin_Lewis: the hands of private owners. They run about 300 dollars minimum for a box of 50, and boxes of AP 5.7 are extremely scarce, mainly residing in the hands of Class III stores or individuals who for one reason or another got a demo box of it.
Posted 11/07/09 at 09:30am
Austin_Lewis: There are other firearms that fire the 5.7. However, I too would like to know where he got the ammo and what kind was used. Maybe Hasan, planning not to live through this, went out and bought one the boxes of SS190 that are floating around in
Austin_Lewis: There are other firearms that fire the 5.7. However, I too would like to know where he got the ammo and what kind was used. Maybe Hasan, planning not to live through this, went out and bought one the boxes of SS190 that are floating around in
Posted 11/07/09 at 08:44am
JDKJ: And it isn't yet clear what type of ammunition Hasan used. It's strange that he purchased a gun but didn't purchase ammunition for it at the same place and time. Especially because the calibre required is peculiar to the actual gun.
JDKJ: And it isn't yet clear what type of ammunition Hasan used. It's strange that he purchased a gun but didn't purchase ammunition for it at the same place and time. Especially because the calibre required is peculiar to the actual gun.
Posted 11/07/09 at 08:40am
JDKJ: We can sit here all day and debate the relative merits. However, I think the events of recent days suggest that an FN Five-Seven ain't exactly the same as that Daisy BB gun you got for Christmas when you were a kid.
JDKJ: We can sit here all day and debate the relative merits. However, I think the events of recent days suggest that an FN Five-Seven ain't exactly the same as that Daisy BB gun you got for Christmas when you were a kid.
Posted 11/07/09 at 08:38am
Austin_Lewis: JDKJ: tumbling can be quite dangerous. However, the rounds that commonly tumbled were variants of the SS90. Civilian ammo tends to tumble far less commonly.
Austin_Lewis: JDKJ: tumbling can be quite dangerous. However, the rounds that commonly tumbled were variants of the SS90. Civilian ammo tends to tumble far less commonly.
Posted 11/07/09 at 08:33am
JDKJ: I understand that while they don't have much expansion effect, they tend to "yaw" on impact. Yaw can be almost just as damaging as mushrooming.
JDKJ: I understand that while they don't have much expansion effect, they tend to "yaw" on impact. Yaw can be almost just as damaging as mushrooming.
Posted 11/07/09 at 08:30am
Austin_Lewis: JDKJ: Except when one considers the lack of expansion for the 5.7, it basically ends up leaving a far smaller hole.
Austin_Lewis: JDKJ: Except when one considers the lack of expansion for the 5.7, it basically ends up leaving a far smaller hole.
Posted 11/07/09 at 08:29am
JDKJ: But if the latter's travelling at close to twice the speed of the former, there's a compensatory effect on the weight difference.
JDKJ: But if the latter's travelling at close to twice the speed of the former, there's a compensatory effect on the weight difference.
Copyright © 2007 ECA. All rights reserved.
Game Politics and Game Politics logo are trademarks of the ECA.
Game Politics and Game Politics logo are trademarks of the ECA.
Comments
You are correct in stating that State judgeships are an elected position. There is also a position called a Court Referee which handles many of the same duties as a Judge, but is a HIRED position. Judges are required, by law, to handle Criminal matters and (I believe) Civil matters above a certain dollar limit.
Both Judges and Referees HATE to be overturned. They generally view it as a black mark on their record (more or less, depending on the case in question). However, as with any job, you do occasionally get some screwballs who work from their personal and political viewpoints, rather than enforcing the law.
the best part is that jt isn't even part of louisiana and because of him, they need to fork over 92000 ^_^
Now on to the completely off topic dicussion of the Virginia Tech shooting. I heard about this in my car on the way home from work. My first thoughts were: "I hope he didn't play any video games, ever, in his whole life. Not even Solitaire." I knew He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named would jump on this. I hoped that his Contempt cases would limit his ability to do so, but alas dreamers can't truely win.
It's probably too much to ask that he is not a game player even if only casually. Odds are this is a young, white, male in his 20s (prime gamer age). Odds are he has a huge list of risk factors that went largely ignored, and demonstrates a level of anti-social behavior. The problem with the video games are evil logic is that 99.9% of gamers don't commit violent crimes (who hasn't gotten a speeding ticket?). However,it seems that the majority is punished for the minorities actions.
@ Deathnote29
Even if they pass a law in Virginia banning video games, as this story demonstrates, the judges won't stand for it.
As for the judge I LOVE it when they dress down the legislature for being so stupid.
Miang
Of course Hack PI is on the case looking to push his agenda while screaming and laughing out loud I WAS RIIIIIIGHT BWAHAHAHA". Of course, before there are any facts in the case. It's even more disgusting that these stupid channels actually put him on the air to promote him and do anything to demonize something that at this point has no connection with what happened. By connection I mean his actually owning and playing violent games and that still doesn't prove anything unless it's all he owns along with movies, books and sites he visits. Then it just shows he had a obsession with violence, which could be a "warning sign" but it wouldn't be the cause.
If they really did wear a boyscout uniform then they're obviously ****** in the head. Though, killing someone, let alone 30+ people and injuring many others is a clear sign of that now. No sane person, in this type of situation, would do anything like that. Obviously.
Anyway, to get on topic.
Glad this judge came out and said this, I can't wait until the CA bill finally gets struck down and those fees are rewarded. After all this time I'm damn sure it'll be a lot. Speaking of wasting money, I need to vent some more about the whole "free ipods for students" thing Democraps tried to pull here in Michigan not too long ago.
Deathnote is refering to judges on the state level, not the federal level; i'm not sure but i think the state level ones my be elected... though it is true that any state that has a judge that does rule in favor of the law, appeals against the law will probably move up the ladder until they get to the sumpreme court, where it would be ruled down by a federal judge.
@Deathnote29
Unlike politicans, such things do not work on judges. If a judge were to do such a thing, it would be considered a breach in judical ethics. If i understand correctly, the law is very strict about these things and a judge can be seriously punished if they tried to pull such a stunt; and it would not be hard to find a judge guilty if they were to rule in favor of a law that was clearly unconstitutional. Unlike politicans, Judges are forced to remain unbiased and follow laws strictly. Bascially a judge has more risk of loosing their job by doing what the soccer moms and the like want (and by extention going agianst the constitution), then they do by rolling over (like so many politicians).
i would think that when it comes to campaign adds, one thing i don't think you ever see against a judge is a smear compaign that critizes one of his rulings... afterall, judges are supposed to rule by the laws of the country and state, and thus critizing his rulling would be like calling him out on a breach of judical ethics... this in turn can be bad for the other judge running the add since its a bad thing to make such unfounded claims against the judge... Atleast, that's how i would imagine it would work...
The man is a vulture, plain and simple.
Hopefully even if it was a student, because he's somewhat older there'll be more of an inclination to hold him responsible for his own actions than say video games (or whatever) made him do it. Still, that didn't stop some, including JT, from saying Kimveer Gill was influenced by them, and already this has some very uncomfortable similarities to that incident.
Don't forget, our attorney general, Gonzales, is having to fight to keep his job because he looks like he assisted in just that - making the judicial a tool of the executive. Granted, he's not been fully implicated yet, the firings involved were attorneys and not judges, I think, and this probably didn't occur so that they could outlaw video games, but you can still see where this could end up in a few years if not checked by the citizenry.
As for JT, I know we talk all the time about how great it would be for him to be slammed with a slander suit, and it's not easy - but I have to wonder if he'd be vulnerable to one if the VA shooter proved to not be a gamer. If the claim was proven false, I'd say that accusing someone (the ESA) of being responsible for multiple murder based on nothing at all is both reckless and malicious.
@ Gameboy
Normally, you'd be right, but if JT can spin this tragedy in the right way and blame video games, a judge striking down the law could be seen as saying yes to more school shootings. Even though the judge knows it's unconstitutional, not a lot of people would be happy, and he might not get re-elected.
Sure, we're doing bad enough as is, but NOOOOOOO, we had to go pick a fight with video games.
Either way it's great to see a judge trashing the legislature for passing such a bad law. Particularly how he points out the number of places where it should have been shown to be unconstitutional before being passed. Not to mention that he specifically points out that they've wasted taxpayer money on something they damn well should have known would be a waste of taxpayer money.
Sure it's not going to change anything, but it is nice to see this sort of "The Emperor has no clothes!" shout.
This does not look good. :(
Man i didnt think i'd start a jt bashing moment but meh the loser deserves it.
i take it nothing new has been said yet about that shooting?
i just got off from the hell hole a while ago so im just surfing right now at the libary
Honestly I think he jumped up out of his seat when he heard the news. It makes me sad.
you must be new here trust me jack's gotten a lot more insane then that
the archives here prove it
And it would work, too, if it weren't for those pesky, biased, paid-off judges forcing the states to fork over legal fees. Oh, and being a deadbeat of a state can get you in deep even further. Illinois had additional late fees tacked onto their bill. The judge can take further action, such as holding those responsible for settling the tab in contempt.
Federal judges are appointed by the president and confirmed by the Senate and their terms are for life, they're not elected.
Let's just say that the Fall of Rome was preceeded by Caesar eroding the political abilities of the Representative Senate, and leave the rest to History.
Thankfully, judges still seem to value the role they have in upholding and protecting our nation's constitution, unlike Ashcroft, Gonzales, and about 90% of congress. God forbid they ever put the word "patriot" in an anti-videogame bill.
I was thinking the same thing when I was reading the article.
I don't think it will take him long to hope on the "GTA Killer" bandwagon.... wait can JT jump on it.... isn't he the bandwagon people ride on?
He does tend to have a history of being the bandwagon leader, thats for sure.
Why do those silly silly politicians keep trying to limit videogames... the courts, in my opinion, have been very clear about this topic already... Oh well, might as well just keep throwing away tax money on bills and whatnot that we already know will be deemed unconstitutional, I mean really, we don't have any other problems that tax money could help fix...
Considering JT's outright admitted to hoping TT goes bankrupt from being taken to court so often, that doesn't surprise me.
I believe that is exactly one of his tactics, if not his primary one. His goal is to either 1) Successfully get a law passed, opening the the floodgates for more legislation just as it was with Big Tobacco whom he's often compared the Games industry to or 2) Failing that, constantly sue them until they spend themselves into bankruptcy. Either way it's underhanded.
Never mind the fact that he's currently facing serious charges from the Florida Bar for misconduct. I'm sure that will put a serious dent in his plans. All someone has to do is bring it up and tell whatever families he approaches about it. It would make them think twice about dealing with him.
in 3.2.1
At least it was only Fox News.... I don't pay much attention to them anyway, and I suspect as Hilary said early we can expect him to make a press release here pretty soon.
It really is sad to see that the shooting in Virginia will once again fuel the fire for JT and crew.
Gotta remember that while this legislation was still being fought over, John Bruce was blasting the AG for holding press conferences about Katrina. As if the victims of Katrina were less important than his video game bill. I believe, in fact, that someone got an email from John Bruce (I don't remember who it was, but they can confirm this if they see it) where he said that Katrina was the Feds problem. John Bruce is well known for placing tragedies such as various forms of abuse (see Cody Posey case) and other tragic events (from real motievs behind suicides to real motives behind school shootings) in lower catagories of importance when it comes to his agenda of creating a dictatorship of telling individuals and Parents what is or is not appropriate.
But he isn't alone. A newspaper in NC also tried to downplay the issue of Katrina victims much in the same way. That story was reported here on GP as well, though I don't remember the date.
Now, for those out there who had trouble going through all the legalize that the Judge used, allow myself, a non-expert in law, to translate:
Ahem...
Judge (in Red Foreman (from That '70s Show) voice to all the government officials in LA involved in this issue:
"DUMBA**ES!"
There. How's that? :)
nightwng2000
NW2K Software
"Despite Judge Brady’s surprisingly frank repudiation of both the video game law and the process that led to its passage, bill sponsor Rep. Roy Burrell (D) told Acadiana TV station KATC-3 he may try to pass another such bill in the future."
I mean after wasting tax payer money I think I would lay off a bit.
I really hope some voters in Louisiana pay attention to this and see how politicians are handling money they could be spent rebuilding the state.
of course he'll "find" a link. all college kids are nothing but drunks who play those awful murder/rape/satanist/voteDemocrat/punchababy/converttoIslam simulators.
duh!
Accordingly, both JT and Rep. Roy Burrell should be institutionalized to protect the nation from future harm.
It's pretty disgraceful that they'd flush so many hundreds of thousands of dollars on this bill - and then go on to plan another! - when there are so many, more worthwhile, projects that the money could be used on, especially in Louisiana.
I just had this vision of Judge Brady stopping for a second, grabbing some bits of card from behind the bench, and handing it to the state reps, going "here's your sign". :D
I agree with VioletSon. The politicians will argue that the $92,000 was "worth it" to "try to save the children"... Horray for spin...
Is anyone shocked? That exploitationist monster was probably rubbing his grubby hands as soon as he heard the news. He's probably already trying to find out anything he can about the victim's families so he can "grieve with them," and leave them with a business card at the same time.
My greatest fear for America is that one day these worthless windmill-jousting leaders will infiltrate the judiciary branch of government, then our nation is DOOMED.
92,000, rofl.
that's awesome.
@gameclucks:
It's a concern, but probably not as bad as you think. The advantage we have is that the laws bozos like Burrell are trying to pass are so blatantly unconstitutional that it's not even a question of whether it should be struck down. Any judge, whether he/she personally agrees with the legislation or not, would be EXTREMELY hard-pressed to let it go through and still keep their seat. It'd be totally obvious that they weren't impartial, and besides, said ruling would probably get wiped out via appeal anyway.
Still, it's always nice to hear a voice of reason and from someone of come authority.
As I have noted repeatedly on this blog, every single effort to regulate the sale of video games to minors has (correctly) been struck down by courts. Every single time.
Which of course is not stopping New York's activist governor, Eliot S......
srilanka
I took a big look through this which made me a little confused, But the story made me understand about the obligations which are faced by the judges it looks very interesting to see. The people will be having some doubts about this to have more consequences about it.
..................
GAYATHRI
Louisiana Treatment Centers
This shows that the politics have been taken for a game. This is unusual for a country. Especially for an English country.
...................
DILSHI
Social Media Marketing