Judge revokes Thompson's pro hac vice admission

Wow, what a great development. Gamepolitics is reporting that attorney Jack Thompson's pro hac vice admission in Alabama has been revoked by the judge in the Sony v. Strickland case.

Prior to Thompson withdrawing, attorneys for the defense made a pre-trial motion to have his pro hac vice admission revoked for a variety of reasons, primarily because of alleged ethical misconduct having to do with public press releases about the case and statements made about the defendants in the case. The judge did not rule on this pre-trial motion at the time it was made, but has done so now.

Apparently the judge issued an 18-page decision on the motion for revocation of Thompson's pro hac vice admission, rejecting Thompson's prior attempt to withdraw and revoking his pro hac vice admission. 18 pages is quite a lot for a pre-trial motion. Usually they are either approved or rejected with 4 or 5 pages of reasoning, if that. I await with bated breath for details of the decision and hope for a link to a .pdf.

I applaud the judge in this case for not allowing Mr. Thompson to escape the consequences of his behavior in and out of the courtroom. Revoking his pro hac vice admission means not only that Thompson is off of the Strickland case, but he can also no longer represent his clients in that Alabama court's jurisdiction in the Strickland case in any fashion whatsoever. If Thompson had been allowed to merely withdraw he could presumably inject himself back into the proceedings at a later point. Now he would have to reapply for admission to (temporarily) practice in that jurisdiction and I have a feeling the judge would be unlikely to grant such an application.