No doubt the news that Jack Thompson has been censured by a Florida Court for 27 Bar rule violations will be greeted with a rousing chorus of acclaim by the gaming community. That’s to be expected, as he has been no friend to our community. But we shouldn’t get too excited just yet, as the fight isn’t quite over. While the judge’s decision has been made public, Florida’s Supreme Court still gets their say in the matter before Thompson actually loses the ability to practice law for up to ten years. Given his antics at the latest hearing, not to mention previous sanctions for inappropriate conduct, I suspect the Florida Supreme Court will revoke his ability to practice law.

Like he has in previous legal scrapes, Thompson has waved the flag of First Amendment rights, arguing that there’s a conspiracy to deprive him of his freedom of speech. I find this odd, considering that his attacks on the industry would themselves seem to be the kind to reduce freedom of speech; however, I have no intention of spending thousands of words on discussing hypocrisy, fun as it might be. Instead, I’d like to point out something that might not be obvious throughout all of the courtroom theatrics and heated rhetoric. Even assuming that he loses the ability to practice law, I imagine it will have little impact on his anti-gaming crusade. He can still write books, launch into tirades and express his hate and discontent in any manner of ways. In fact, if he still has money, he can hire his own attorneys to continue the legal battles. Despite his rhetoric to the contrary, losing this legal fight will not impact his freedom to speak.

What it will do is put an end to Thompson’s frivolous lawsuits and dubious abuses of the legal privileges that lawyers enjoy in their line of work. Hopefully, the taxpayers of the great state of Florida will no longer have the rather expensive time of their courts taken up with Thompson’s legal silliness. He’ll have to fight these battles on equal footing with the rest of us now.

I, for one, welcome the challenge. As I’ve said before, I’m not one to trample on anyone’s right to express themselves. I rather thrive on discussing things in a calm, rational manner. While I’m sure many of my peers wish he’d just go away, I will instead extend an offer of dialog not unlike the offer I extended to Lyndon LaRouche. If, and when, Thompson is disbarred, he can feel free to discuss video games, violence and First Amendment rights with me in a debate that’s likely to enlighten both of us.

Let’s exercise our First Amendment rights instead of mucking about in Florida courts with frivolous filings. We have those rights for a reason, after all, don’t we, Jack?