Devin Thompson, 16 at the time, is charged with murdering two Fayette, Ala. policemen and an emergency dispatcher in June 2003. Now members of the victims’ families are suing the maker of the Grand Theft Auto video game, retailers Wal-Mart and Gamestop, and Sony, which manufactures the PlayStation, as well as Thompson himself, on the grounds that the violent game “trained” the teen to commit the real-life killings. Representing the families, if you haven’t already guessed, is attorney Jack Thompson, whose anti-videogame crusade has for years provided material for these columns (Sept. 26 and Dec. 17, 2003, etc.)(Johnny Kampis, “Lawsuit claims video violence precipitated Fayette police shootings”, Tuscaloosa News, Feb. 15; Tony Smith, “Grand Theft Auto firm faces ‘murder training’ lawsuit”, The Register (UK), Feb. 17). More: “The supporters [of anti-videogame government action] think violent games produce violent teens, but the evidence is lacking.” (Steve Chapman, “Violent video games and Illinois’ loopy legislators”, syndicated/Chicago Tribune, Mar. 20)
Chronicling the high cost of our legal system
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Point of Law- "Right and Left Join Forces on Criminal Justice"Adam Liptak's article brings front-page New York Times attention to a welcome trend that's been building for years now. Commentary: Adler/Volokh.... […]Walter Olson
- House/Senate divide on state med-mal limitsThe Texas Medical Association, unlike some physician groups, refuses to support the health care bill on Capitol Hill. One of its particular concerns: TMA wants the legislation to explicitly protect the state's caps on non-economic damages in malpractice lawsuits. The... […]Walter Olson
- "Selling Lawsuits, Buying Trouble"The Chamber's Institute for Legal Reform has published a substantial new study (PDF) of the dangers of third-party litigation financing. The authors are John Beisner, Jessica Miller and Gary Rubin of Skadden Arps. Executive summary: "Third-party litigation financing" is a... […]Walter Olson
- State of play on Alien Tort litigationLee G. Dunst of Gibson Dunn, writing in the New York Law Journal (PDF), reviews recent cases and concludes that the courts are tending to dismiss most actions filed under the Alien Tort Claims Act (also known as the Alien... […]Walter Olson
- Higher punitives for wealthier malefactorsIra Stoll at Future of Capitalism has some doubts about that new $300 million tobacco verdict.... […]Walter Olson
- "Right and Left Join Forces on Criminal Justice"
- Volokh
- Getting Blog Posts (for the Conspiracy and Other RSS-Producing Blogs) in Your Outlook InboxI just came across a way of doing this that works for Microsoft Outlook 2007 users — it might be obvious to many of you, but I hadn’t known this was possible. Go to Tools / Account Settings / RSS Feeds, click on New, enter the RSS address (for us, it’s http://volokh.com/feed), click on [...] […]Eugene Volokh
- California & Nevada District Attorneys’ Brief in Support of Incorporation of the Second AmendmentThe brief, of (among others) 34 California DA’s, 8 Nevada DA’s, three Western sheriffs (two from California and one from Arizona), and a couple of California police officers’ groups, is here. It was interesting for me to note that it include DAs from all the Southern California counties except Los Angeles and Riverside, and [...] […]Eugene Volokh
- So . . . Where Are The (Argued) Supreme Court Opinions?As Thanksgiving draws near, I began wondering where the argued Supreme Court opinions are. Sure, we’ve had three per curiam summary reversals, but usually by this point in November, we’ve had at least an opinion or two released in an argued case. The next hand-down opportunity comes on November 30, and if we get an [...] […]John Elwood
- “Climategate” and the Social Validation of KnowledgeRecent evidence that prominent climate scientists have tried to intimidate academic journals into not publishing papers submitted by “climate change” skeptics have caused a major brouhaha in the ongoing political battle over global warming. At least some of the scientists in question certainly seem to have put ideology above the search for truth. The [. […]Ilya Somin
- New York Court of Appeals Upholds Atlantic Yards CondemnationsThe New York Court of Appeals has issued its opinion in Goldstein v. New York State Urban Development Corporation, an important property rights case. The 6–1 decision upholds the condemnation of numerous properties in the Atlantic Yards area for the purpose of transferring them to powerful developer Bruce Ratner, who plans to use most of [...] […]Ilya Somin
- Getting Blog Posts (for the Conspiracy and Other RSS-Producing Blogs) in Your Outlook Inbox
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Moonbattery’s Beneficiaries
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Jack Thompson update
We’ve previously documented the escapades of attorney Jack Thompson, who’s led a number of lawsuits against the video game industry seeking to blame violent crimes on them (Feb. 19, Sep. 26, 2003, Apr. 3-4, 2002),…
Jack Thompson quits Grand Theft Auto case
“Jack Thompson, the colorful Miami attorney who has become synonymous with lawsuits against video game companies, withdrew as the attorney for the plaintiffs in Fayette’s video game trial.”…Thompson’s withdrawal comes after a hearing on a…
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