Video game activist seeks to free Avery with pardon

Thompson known for ’90s shooting lawsuits

Culture warrior Jack Thompson might be one of the last lawyers in America to have watched “Making a Murderer.”

The 2015 Netflix docu-series convinced him a couple of weeks ago — as it did millions worldwide since its release — that Steven Avery was framed for the 2005 grisly murder of Teresa Halbach in Manitowoc County. Almost immediately, Thompson went into action.

He believes the “ancient writ of mandamus” could force Gov. Scott Walker to at least consider pardoning Avery, who is serving a life sentence and has been turned down by the U.S. Supreme Court.

Thompson, 66, gained national prominence in the 1990s for his crusades against violence in video games and obscenity in modern culture, going back to 2 Live Crew’s “Nasty as They Wanna Be.”

He also sued video game makers on behalf of the parents of three children killed in a school shooting at a Paducah, Kentucky, high school in 1996; the 14-year-old shooter regularly played several of the games. The suit and several other similar actions were dismissed.

So now, Thompson has fired off three documents after having watched “Making a Murderer” at his son’s urging. One is a letter to Walker, saying Thompson is appalled by Walker’s “blanket and arbitrary refusal” to even consider pardoning anyone convicted in Wisconsin.

“Your refusal to consider Mr. Avery for a pardon is not just a violation of your oath of office; it is also a shocking betrayal of your claim to be an evangelical Christian. Jesus of Nazareth was framed for crimes he did not commit and executed by crucifixion by Rome.”

He also drafted a petition for a “writ of mandamus,” a legal tool to get courts to compel a government official to do something the law considers the official’s duty, not an act of discretion. It notes that Walker’s 2011 executive order creating the Pardon Advisory Board says the board shall review all applications for clemency and shall make a recommendation to the governor on each one.

Thompson mentions how the Arkansas State Bar had refused to

consider complaints against former President Bill Clinton until a writ of mandamus from the state’s Supreme Court forced action that led to Clinton’s disbarment in Arkansas.

Lastly, he’s made a public records request to Wisconsin prosecutors for any evidence that Bobby Dassey — whom Avery’s defense has named as a suspect in Halbach’s murder — used “Grand Theft Auto” or other video games.

Bobby Dassey is the brother of Brendan Dassey, who was convicted of helping Avery, his uncle, assault and kill Halbach. Last week, Avery suggested that violent images of torture and mutilation were found on a computer in the Dassey home.

Thompson says many games, “Grand Theft Auto” in particular, are “rape and murder simulators” to allow a perpetrator to rehearse what was done to Halbach.

Thompson is not licensed to practice in Wisconsin — and has been disbarred in Florida — so he’s looking for someone else to file the petition with the court.

As of Tuesday, however, Thompson said he’s gotten no response.

“I’m going to get this thing filed, by hook or by crook,” he said.