Conservative attorney Jack Thompson has filed a federal lawsuit against the Florida Bar, alleging it is harassing him by investigating what he calls “baseless complaints made by disgruntled opponents in previous disputes.”
A recent story in the Daily Business Review noted that Thompson is known nationally for waging campaigns against what he considers violence and sex in the entertainment industry.
The article said the Bar complaints stems from his involvement in decency crusades against the Howard Stern radio show.
"I enjoy doing what I do and I think I've got a First Amendment right to annoy people and participate in the public square in the cultural war," Thompson said in an interview Wednesday. His five-count complaint asks for more than $1 million in damages. Thompson has also filed a motion with the court to order the mediation of his dispute with the Bar.
A spokeswoman for the Bar said its lawyers had only received the complaint Tuesday, continued the story, and were still reviewing it with the Bar's Executive Committee. However, the Bar confirmed that Tallahassee lawyer Barry Richard of Greenberg Traurig will represent it in the case. Richard's response to Thompson's complaint is forthcoming, the Bar said.
"We're very comfortable with everything that the Bar has done," Bar president Alan B. Bookman said of the Bar's investigation of Thompson. "Everything the Bar has done has been appropriate and proper."
Daily Business Review writer Carl Jones wrote that the lawsuit alleges the Bar is pursuing baseless ethics complaints brought against Thompson by Tew Cardenas attorneys Lawrence Kellogg and Al Cardenas of Miami, and by two lawyers from the Philadelphia office of Blank Rome, in violation of Thompson's constitutional rights. According to the lawsuit, wrote Jones, the Bar is looking at Thompson for violations of a bar rule that prohibits attorneys from making disparaging remarks about judges, other attorneys or court personnel.
Tew Cardenas is outside counsel to the Naples, Fla.-based Beasley Broadcast group Inc. The company owns more than three dozen AM and FM radio stations including WQAM in Miami, which formerly aired "The Howard Stern Show."
Thompson complained to the Federal Communications Commission about the adult-themed content of Stern's show, which now airs on Sirius Satellite Radio. In a statement, he asserts that Tew Cardenas "is upset" that Thompson forced the Stern show off the air in South Florida.
Kellogg of Tew Cardenas declined to discuss his complaint to the Bar other than to say that it is warranted. Within the last year, Kellogg and Al Cardenas, a past chairman of the Florida Republican Party, have been the subjects of widely distributed criticisms from Thompson about their integrity.
"I was justified in filing my Bar complaint against Mr. Thompson, and the Florida Bar Grievance Committee has found probable cause that he violated Bar rules," Kellogg told the Daily Business Review. "I'm now leaving it in the hands of the Florida Bar."
