Saintless

This is priceless. You may remember Jack Thompson as the disbarred lawyer and figure behind the recent video game bill that Gov. Huntsman vetoed. Thompson himself showed up here in the comments, apparently hoping to debate me and/or spread some more of his lies.

Anyway, even though Utah Senate President Waddoups supported the video game bill, Thompson is apparently harassing him:

In an e-mail sent out earlier today, Thompson claimed that Utah State Senate President Michael Waddoups (R, at left) has threatened to have him prosecuted if the disbarred attorney doesn’t stop sending him e-mails.

Waddoups, who presided over the Utah Senate as it overwhelmingly passed Thompson’s video game bill earlier this month, apparently became upset by an Easter Sunday e-mail in which Thompson attacked Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff.

[...]

To back up his point, Thompson included a large screenshot of a pair of strippers giving GTA IV protagonist Nico Bellic a lap dance. Why Waddoups reacted so strongly is not entirely clear, although it is possible that he was offended by the picture. Or perhaps he has grown weary of Thompson’s persistent attacks on Gov. Huntsman and A.G. Shurtleff, both fellow Republicans. GamePolitics contacted Waddoups for comment, but the Senate President did not return our call.

GamePolitics has plenty more, including excerpts from emails flying back and forth between Waddoups and Thompson. I’m looking forward to the article in the Salt Lake Tribune tomorrow morning, as alluded to by Thompson.

My guess is, whatever the outcome, that video game bill won’t see resurrection next session.

Update: The Salt Lake Tribune already has their article out.

Waddoups, on Tuesday, confirmed he would attempt to pursue legal action under the federal CAN-SPAM Act of 2003.

While that law carries a punishment of up to $11,000 in fines, it covers “e-mail whose primary purpose is advertising or promoting a commercial product or service,” according to the Federal Trade Commission.

The Attorney General’s Office has not looked into the validity of using that or any other law to prosecute Thompson because Waddoups has not yet filed a complaint.

Tags: Jack Thompson, President Michael Waddoups, video game bill

This entry was posted on Tuesday, April 14th, 2009 at 8:06 pm and is filed under Utah. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.