Strickland v. Sony was a court case that focused on whether violent video games played a role in Devin Moore's first-degree murder/shooting of three people in a police station.
This case has led to a debate in the role of how violent video games play a part in real life violence.
Devin Moore was convicted in 2005 for the 2003 shooting of two police officers and a dispatcher as he was being detained for allegedly stealing a car.
[citation needed] In March 2005, Thompson announced he was filing a lawsuit on behalf of the families of two of the three victims in Fayette, Alabama.
In it, he compared Sony and Take-Two Interactive's sale of the Grand Theft Auto video game to Imperial Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor during World War II.
Jack Thompson appeared in court to defend his right to practice law in Alabama (using Pro Hac Vice), following accusations that he violated legal ethics.
[10] The trial judge barred the defense from introducing evidence to the jury that Grand Theft Auto incited Moore's shooting spree.
On November 18, 2005, Judge Moore rejected Thompson's request to withdraw, and instead revoked his Pro Hac Vice admission (a temporary license to practice in a given jurisdiction), in an 18-page decision.
Thompson responded with a letter to Alabama's Judicial Inquiry Commission, questioning Judge Moore's ethics and accusing him of violating the first 3 Alabama Canons of Judicial Ethics [13][14] Thompson also claimed the judge had "absolutely no authority" in preventing him from withdrawing from the case, and so therefore the court's decision to kick him off the case was a "legal nullity".
He accused the court of punishing him for "aggressively telling the truth" while it "looked the other way when Blank Rome elegantly told those lies.
"[16] On November 21, 2005, Thompson claimed that "We had heard going into this civil case, before it was even filed, that a particular Western Alabama lawyer had to be part of our litigation team or Judge Moore would not give us a fair hearing.
"[23] The Alabama Bar has not yet[needs update] been served notice with any complaint from Thompson, nor has any Florida court acknowledged a civil suit being filed.
Thompson announced that the Strickland v. Sony plaintiffs were still his clients, and vowed to represent them in-court when the trial resumed.
The case was assigned to the same judge who had previously presided over attempts by Thompson to sue the Florida Bar, which were voluntarily withdrawn.
Thompson claimed that his rights of "speech, petition, and religion" were violated when his Pro Hac Vice status was revoked.