Wellll, this is interesting. Girls Gone Wild founder Joe Francis has been ordered to the federal pokey. Seems our boy Joe got a wee bit testy during settlement negotiations in the federal lawsuit seeking damages against him for filming underage girls on a Florida beach:
Los Angeles- The millionaire creator of the Girls Gone Wild
video series has been ordered to jail in connection with a lawsuit
alleging that his film crews pressured girls to appear in sexually
explicit situations, reports said Friday.
US District Court Judge Richard Smoak issued the order following
the breakdown of court-ordered mediation between Francis and lawyers
for the seven plaintiffs, who claimed that Francis had threatened
them during the negotiations and hurled obscenities at them.Smoak ruled that Francis’ behaviour had placed him in contempt of
court. A lawyer for Francis has appealed the jail order while Francis
himself risks a further contempt judgment with his withering comments
about the judge.“This judge has gone as far as to call me the devil and an
evildoer,” Francis said. “It is a case of a judge gone wild.”
Well, I wouldn’t call those “withering” comments. More petulant.
Of course, if the comments don’t get him in trouble, failing to report for his sentence will do the trick:
Despite a judge’s order to surrender himself by noon to begin a jail sentence for contempt of court, Francis was a no-show.
Ronn Torossian, a spokesman for Mantra Films Inc., the company that produces the “Girls Gone Wild” videos, said late Thursday that Francis had no intention of honoring the court’s order.
“We’ve all seen crazy Florida judges, but this development takes the cake,” Torossian said. “This is a case of judges gone wild.”
He said Francis was “very busy” on Thursday “running a business.”
Torossian said Francis was the victim of “extortion” in this case.
“For a judge to tell someone to settle a case or go to jail is a foreign concept to us,” Torossian said. “To threaten someone with jail over a civil case is unheard of.”
Jesus. Where is this guy’s lawyer? Though I suppose Francis does whatever he wants and doesn’t listen to counsel when counsel tells him to shut the fuck up already.
Yes, absolutely, you can go to jail for contempt in a civil case. Contempt is one of the ways the court enforces its orders to litigants. Once you submit to the authority of the court, you’re bound by its rules. And one of those rules is that you don’t act abusively to the other parties, particularly during court-ordered proceedings like mediation. And you don’t tell a federal judge that you won’t be obeying his orders because you’re too busy.
But this is a guy who has a little problem with throwing tantrums when he doesn’t get what he wants.
I haven’t decided whether Joe Francis is a narcissist, sociopath or both. But I certainly know he’s a Grade-A Douchebag. Reading that LA Times article about how he attempted to bully and intimidate the female reporter sealed my opinion of him.
He’s a spoiled little trust fund brat who has always got what he wanted, no matter what. His petulant response and ignoring legal advice remind of someone else we know, but I can’t quite put my finger on it…
Guys like that sure get pissy when you threaten the privilege they’ve taken for themselves.
I only have one thing to say: lol!
I haven’t decided whether Joe Francis is a narcissist, sociopath or both.
He’s a sophist, that’s like a narcissist, but the “me-centric world view” dial gets turned up to 12, then collapses into a singularity, forming a white-a-hole with an event horison beyond which no exterior view can penetrate – and they like it that way.
Or “head-firmly-planted-in-ass” syndrome with a huge case of sexist fueled violence to boot. I love it though. I am inclined to think more than Mr. Francis resides in this category. Maybe some small group of white men sitting in a white house?
I must apologize for the link in the last post. I am working on Russian terrorist and protest groups for a Political Science class. What I meant to say is this:
Or “head-firmly-planted-in-ass” syndrome with a huge case of sexist fueled violence to boot. I love it though. I am inclined to think more than Mr. Francis resides in this category. Maybe some small group of white men sitting in a white house?
R. Mildred: I think that you mean “solipsist.” Sophism is rather different — though philosophers don’t much like it, it still involves a level of intellectualism I doubt Francis aspires to.
Wow. Do you think they see this as a case of judges gone wild?
LET GO OF THE SOUND BITE, FUCKER!
yes, solipsist, though with sophist he’d probably think you were calling him a big girl and would promptly donkey punch a kitten out of his immense and frilly rage.
I’m also surprised that the newsorgans aren’t latching onto the soundbite, could it be he’s discovered a point so low even newsorgans won’t touch it?
I love how we’re relying on film company spokesman for the definitive word on the law in Florida. To answer your question zuzu, I imagine his lawyer is staring at the article and drinking a lot of vodka.
BTW, are there other crazy Florida judges that he’s referring to in particular?
Well, there’s that guy in the Anna Nicole case.
So we have one probate judge and someone who is totally unimpressed with Joe Francis. Clearly, the Florida judiciary is up in flames…
I am not advocating violence–I am non-violent in philosophy and in personal conduct. I was just wondering though, its really surprising that an angry father hasn’t tried to harm Joe Francis after he took advantage of his daughter on one of these Girl’s Gone Wild videos. Because he is a millionaire, he probably has a very professional security detail, but it still is a wonder that considering how hated he is in general and how his “business” is conducted in terms of drugging and using other means of coersion on those (often very drunk) 15-25 year old women in the videos that he hasn’t had to deal with major threats. Again, not advocating this, just wondering why when we live in such a violent society where I think many might excuse such violent behavior toward such a loathed figure, he hasn’t been targeted? Is it because he is male? I’m betting that more than one daughter has been slapped by a parent when learning of her involvement in one of these “productions.” The love of the vigilante, at least on TV and in the movies, has not manifested in the Francis case. The idea of the big Dad or the protective brother can be such a myth–it allows guys like Francis more free license because if what he was doing was so awful to these girls/women, then wouldn’t he have been knocked out at least? The honor of the daugher/sister should be protected by the man of the house? We live in very different times than the Bibilical example of Jacob’s Daughter’s rape–where a whole family was taken down by its desire to punish/avenge the honor of the family. Yet, that is the example, the place people go when they think of sexual honor, even today. This is where the Taliban get’s its fire from; this is where countless honor killings come from. These notions that women/girl’s sexual honor belongs to a family and should be handled by a family. By now, some Reuben or Judah surely should have targeted Francis–at least the popular imagination calls out for that–but its always been a myth and a means by which to control women/girls and deny them justice as individuals who have the right to control their own bodies. Public means by which to convict rapists and other sexual predators is very recent in terms of public justice. And yet, only 38% of rapes are reported and fewer are convicted because the system favors male dominance of women, male use of women’ s bodies. He said, she said. I’m not saying that all of those girls/women appear in those videos against their will. Though the fact that most are drunk or high supports that they had no capacity to consent, but Francis is one of those figures who straddles the line, blurrs it,and then knocks it down. He is a predator, he is a prevacator; he is scum, but he is also a business man and where his personal exploitation of women/girls (rapes even, though non taken to court) meet with his business interests of exploitation of women make him a curious figure in the porn industry today.
The line between clinical narcissim and antisocial personality disorder (“sociopathy”) can be pretty blurry.
/pedant.
i hope they throw the book at him. literally. (“they could throw other things”)
The is a widely circulated rumor that there is a sex tape of Joe Francis being sexually assaulted. I don’t know much about it, but I heard about it on some gossipt show.
After googling, it looks like the rumor is true. It came to light in a trial involving a guy trying to extort Francis.
Joe Francis has the first amendment right to say whatever he wants about the judge. Obviously he can’t disrupt the courtroom but as a defendant in a civil suit he can certainly say publicly that the judge’s rulings are incorrect – and he use whatever colorful language he wants. It would be unconstitutional to jail him for that.
And as for participating in mediation- yes, he can be ordered to participate in mediation, but he can’t be ordered to participate “meaningfully” in mediation. In fact, the judge is not even permitted to know what position a party takes in mediation, because the judge is not permitted to coerce a party to settle by threatening – even by implication -to rule against a party that the judge thinks is being unreasonable. Everyone deserves their day in court, even assholes. If Francis doesn’t want to settle, he’s entitled to have the case decided by a jury of his peers, not by a judge — and no judge can take that right away by jailing him for refusing to participate “meaningfully” in mediation.
According to the LA Times article that Lindsey links:
“[Judge] Smoak ordered Francis jailed if an accord had not been reached in the case by Saturday, but he suspended that order when it appeared that a deal had been struck.”
That sort of order is completely out of line and unconstitutional. A judge can’t coerce a settlement by saying, if you don’t agree to pay money to the plaintiff, I’m going to throw you in jail. That’s what this judge seems to have done. That’s depriving a person of liberty without due process of law, and it’s barred by the 14th amendment.
Basis?
Bloix, if I remember the facts right, the judge didn’t hold him in contempt for failing to settle the case. He held him in contempt for throwing a fit, verbally abusing and trying to intimidate the plaintiffs at a settlement conference — and the judge can do that. Judges can use contempt to control their courtroom, the orderly conduct of proceedings, and the civility of the parties and counsel before them.
Then, the judge agreed to forget the whole thing if Francis settled. Since the contempt was proper initially, he’s in a bad spot to complain that the judge is holding it over his head to force a settlement.
Joe Francis has the first amendment right to say whatever he wants about the judge.
Oh dear, reading for comprehension woman to the rescue…
HE’S BEING PUT IN CONTEMPT FOR CONTINUING TO THREATEN THE WOMEN WHO ARE SUEING HIM FOR RAPE AND FILMING THEM HAVING SEX WHILE THEY WERE UNDERAGE – THEN, HE STARTED BAD MOUTHING THE JUDGE.
This has been a public service announcement from the “Just Say No To Threadjackers” coalition.
Geez, I’m not a lawyer, and even I’ve heard the term “contempt of court.” Apparently this is a totally new concept to our new troll friend.
If Francis doesn’t want to settle, he’s entitled to have the case decided by a jury of his peers, not by a judge — and no judge can take that right away by jailing him for refusing to participate “meaningfully” in mediation.
Thanks for playing. You don’t know the difference between “participating meaningfully in mediation” and deciding that the mediation will not resolve the issue, therefore the matter will proceed to trial.
I run into a lot of lawyers like Bloix who are really unclear on the whole “officer of the court” and “duty of candor” concept.
Yeah, Joe, just keep up that attitude. You’ll end up getting a very close look at Boys Gone Wild.
I just read that Claire Hoffman article in the LA times and… wow.. what an asshole!!
that, and the whole not showing up when ordered to appear in court. judges tend to get a bit tetchy about that sort of thing for some reason.
Damn those activist judges!
i really cannot be happier to hear that this man is going to jail. unless someday he is jailed on underage pornography charges or coercion charges or assault or sexual assault charges. because that would be fantastic.