Alt.religion.scientology Week in Review
Volume 2, Issue 8
06/01/97
by Rod Keller [rkeller@voicenet.com]
copyright 1997

Contents

1. CAN Appeal
2. French Medical Association
3. Grady Ward
4. Keith Henson
5. Tom Klemesrud
6. National Law Review
7. Mesa Picket
8. Lisa Marie Presley
9. WISE Winners
10. Counter-Picketers
11. Lawsuit

Alt.religion.scientology Week in Review summarizes the most significant
postings from the Usenet group Alt.religion.scientology for the preceding
week for the benefit of those who can't follow the group as closely as
they'd like. Out of thousands of postings, I attempt to include news of
significant events, new affidavits, court rulings, new contributors,
whatever. I hope you find it useful. Like many readers of a.r.s, I have a
kill file. So please take into consideration that I may not have seen some
of the most significant postings. 

The articles in A.r.s Week in Review are brief summaries of articles
posted to the newsgroup. They include message IDs for the original
articles, and many have a URL to get more informtion. You may be able to
find the original article, depending on how long your site stores articles
in the newsgroup before expiring them. 

Free A.r.s Week in Review subscriptions are available, just email me at 
rkeller@voicenet.com
It is archived at:
        http://wpxx02.toxi.uni-wuerzburg.de/~krasel/CoS/ars-summary.html
        http://user1.i1.net/~mallen/scn/arswr/ars-summary.html
        http://users.aimnet.com/~jdiver/scieno.htm
        http://www.thur.de/religio/publik/arsfaq.html

#####

CAN Appeal

"[T]he jury found CAN liable based upon a record which included unqualified expert testimony and issues of intentionally confused terminology in an attempt to improperly tie CAN to a referral of a deprogrammer made by Shirley Landa to Kathy Tonkin, which contributed to an unlawful abduction and deprogramming of the plaintiff Jason Scott. Analysis of this record evidence demonstrates CAN's complete disassociation with the events surrounding Mr. Scott's unlawful deprogramming. On review of the undisputed record, both Appellee's negligence and civil rights claims against CAN must fall.

"In an attempt to create an illusion of facts tying CAN to this event, Appellee mischaracterizes CAN's involvement with Ms. Landa and Mr. Ross, and alleges the existence of an 'unofficial' CAN policy condoning illegal, involuntary deprogrammings. Appellee asserts that Ms. Landa acted as CAN's agent merely because (1) she was a co-founder of the Citizen's Freedom Network, a predecessor organization to CAN, and (2) because she was furthering CAN's alleged 'unofficial' policy supporting illegal deprogramming. Other than Dr. Shupe's rank speculation, no testimonial or documentary evidence even hints at such a policy.

"No evidence at trial showed that Ms. Landa or CAN agreed to any plan directed to the illegal abduction and involuntarily deprogramming of Jason Scott, an adult. Further, no evidence exists showing that Ms. Landa or CAN had any knowledge of Ms. Tonkin's and Mr. Ross' plan to abduct Mr. Scott for deprogramming."

Message-ID: <33ae8543.25993179@news.snafu.de>

#####

French Medical Association

"The cult's success is not without parallels with the fact that some MDs are leading their patients into cults, 'healing ones' in particular. Some MDs have high ranks of leaders in cults,

"Some cults have therefore established healing centers, notably designed to drug addicts, arguing of difficulties and among others, inadequacies of official healings of such addicts, an example of this is the Narconon's centers of scientology.

"All these facts show the importance into appreciating such correlations between MDs professional activity and noxious activities from cults, this being yet worsened by the fact that such MDs are rapidly becoming, like every adept, cult's phenomenon's actors."

Message-ID: <338D321A.8CA95943@hol.fr>

#####

Grady Ward

"I was was informed by Rusty Stoob that the scientologists have launched an ad hominem attack upon me and my children, Adrian and Isaiah, over the internet, purportedly from one 'Michelle Janney' of El Segundo, California. Dated May 25, 1997 with a return address of 'mjanney@mac-mail1.interworld.net' the letter accuses me of writing 'pornography' and suggests that I am a danger to my children.

"A neighbor whose daughter attend Pacific Union had the pleasure of seeing the Arcata Police Department escort a private investigator who was 'staking' out our Vassaide neighborhood a few weeks ago."

"I have just learned that the same 'Michelle Janney' has used the U.S. Mails to send what she describes as 'pornography' unsolicited to a mailing list of Arcata homes and businesses. I will be making an ex parte motion for a temporary restraining order Monday and of course I will immediately contact the Postal Inspector and the US Attorney's office."

"The envelope had a typed or computer-generated return address label from CYBER, 1970 Broadway, Oakland, CA 94612. The postmark was San Francisco. The 'Letterhead' is CYBER, CYBERSPACE YOUTH BASIC EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES, 1970 Broadway, Oakland, California 94612, mjanney@interworld.net.

"'The concern of CYBER is that our youth learn to use the Internet for constructive purposes and not to commit crimes or gain access to pronographic (sic) material or information which encourages various forms of crime. Thus from time to time, CYBER has sent out alerts into a community when someone has been found to be abusing the Internet and misusing it to place pornorgraphic (sic) materials on it or using it to commit various crimes. Only if we police our own users, can we expect to safely allow our children access to the Internet.

"'One such Internet abuser, Mr. Grady Ward, who lives in the Arcata community has been identified. Mr. Ward, who has two young children and has been making threatening statements of a pornogrpahic (sic) nature on the Internet. Attached to this alert bulletin is an example of the type of material which Mr. Ward has been placing on the Internet. This is being brought to your attention as a member of the community to alert you much in the same way a child molester must register with local authorities so that the local citizens with children can be alerted. If we do not make it known that this sort of behavior is not tolerable, then we well lose the true potential that the internet can become.'"

Scientology also designated Grady's entire deposition with David Miscavige as "confidential", so that not even Grady can keep a copy of it.

"[T]o designate the whole thing 'confidential,' and thus not to be excerpted nor even possessed by Keith or me. The good part about their ridiculous designation of the *entire* deposition as 'confidential' is that it is an explicit cult admission that the embarrassment of the 'Rear' Admiral is palpable and extremely damaging."

"In theory I can go to Hogan's office to review the materials (not take too detailed notes). In practice he is 330 miles from my home and has a difficult time to schedule the session. However the cult's motion for partial summary judgment *is* Kafkaesque in that the cult sealed the exhibits (without giving me a copy) containing alleged postings that allegedly violated their copyrights. And they have not provided those exhibits to me for review."

Message-ID: <339318c0.11586578@news.supernews.com>
Message-ID: <338ff0c8.1353720@news.supernews.com>
Message-ID: <338e6434.25001371@news.supernews.com>
Message-ID: <338f252c.1369114@news.supernews.com>
Message-ID: <338f607d.4123200@news.supernews.com>
Message-ID: <3390fc91.6714250@snews.zippo.com>

#####

Keith Henson

"I opened a letter from the court assigning new dates for the case. I will scan it in, but the trial is put off to Dec. 1, 1997 Considering the other legal hot water CoS is in, there might well *be* no RTC by that time."

"[P]laintiff's opposition demonstrates by the selective arguments and additional exhibits that plaintiff's original motion for summary judgment did not disclose to the Court or defendant all the facts upon which plaintiff bases their claim to 'ownership' of the right to sue over purported copyright violation of the NOTs 34.

"[F]rom memory of the testimony of that deposition, David Miscavige was unable to state if the original of Exhibit E was extant, or what the numbers in the upper right corner of that document represented, or whose signatures are affixed to the document. Considering that this document purports to transfer assets (eventually appraised in aggregate at $25 million) from the non-profit CSC to an individual, the question of inurement arises and the legal validity of the assignment itself may in question.

"With respect to the matter of misinformation on copyright certificates: 'the courts have generally adopted the position that omissions or misrepresentations in a copyright application can render the registration invalid. The a common element among them has been intentional or purposeful concealment of relevant information. Where this element of 'scienter' is lacking, courts generally have upheld the copyright.'

"Defendant notes that the letters DM have been blacked out of the credit line on the masked versions of the NOTs documents submitted to the Copyright Office just as carefully as 'BT'. This action on the part of RTC indicates to defendant that either DM (David Mayo) was a trade secret, or there was a purposeful attempt by RTC to conceal relevant copyright information."

Message-ID: <hkhensonEAyMMC.90t@netcom.com>

#####

Tom Klemesrud

"I will be giving my deposition to the Scientologists on June 9th, 1997. I will be accompanied by a armed, former FBI agent."

Message-ID: <tomklemEAynFw.BLM@netcom.com>

#####

National Law Review

"The church's first loss came in Religious Technology Center v. F.A.C.T.NET Inc. The Religious Technology Center, or RTC sought to enjoin Internet postings or excerpts from highly confidential unpublished church documents known as Advanced Technology works. The defendants posted a newsgroup message by Arnold Lerma, a F.A.C.T.NET director, endorsing Internet publication of Advanced Technology materials. The Colorado court denied the injunction, finding no likelihood of success on the RTC's copyright claim. It found that F.A.C.T.NET's use had been nonpublic and noncommercial, observed that no evidence had been presented on the effect on the potential market for the works, and that it could not make third factor 'amount and substantiality' comparisons because the RTC had declined to introduce the entire Advanced Technology works into evidence.

"Mr. Lerma himself was the defendant in a second action the RTC filed arising out of the same Internet publication of Advanced Technology documents. In preliminary skirmishing, the RTC obtained a temporary restraining order against Mr. Lerma and his Internet access provider, along with an order to seize his computer and floppy disks. When the RTC learned that Mr. Lerma had provided a copy of the Advanced Technology documents to the Washington Post, it advised the newspaper that the documents might have been stolen. When the Post included a few brief quotations from the documents in an article about the RTC's lawsuit against Mr. Lerma, the RTC added the Post and its reporters as defendants, and sought injunctive relief against them as well.

"Once again the RTC came out on the losing end of the fair use analysis, conducted to determine likelihood of success on the RTC's copyright infringement claim. Indeed, U.S. District Judge Leonie M. Brinkema found that all four fair use factors favored the defendants, concluding that the purpose of the Post's use constituted news reporting and research; that only a 'minute portion' of the Advanced Technology works had been quoted; and that it was doubtful that these scant quotations could have any significant negative effect on the market value of the works.

"The Scientologists have also had mixed results on fair use in the third case they filed following publication of Advanced Technology documents on the Internet, this time by Dennis Erlich, 'a former Scientology minister turned vocal critic of the Church.' Along with Mr. Erlich, the church named the the California operator of his bulletin board service, or BBS, and Netcom. which provides that service with Internet access. All of the defendants had ignored the RTC's demands to cease and desist, and large portions of Advanced Technology works were made available on the 'Net.

"In his first opinion, ruling on injunctive relief against Mr. Erlich, Judge Whyte gave considerable, though not dispositive, weight to the unpublished nature of the RTC's materials. He reviewed the pre-amendment treatment of this factor in the 2d Circuit, explained that the 1992 amendment rejected the notion of a per se rule, and cited to a portion of the House Report that construed Harper & Row as narrowing the amount of permissible copying from unpublished works.

"Mr. Erlich had copied from both published and unpublished church documents. Judge Whyte found that the second factor weighed heavily against Erlich for the unpublished works because large portions had been copied. Judge Whyte granted a preliminary injunction against Mr. Erlich on the RTC's copyright claim. Finding that the amount of copying was 'particularly unacceptable' with the unpublished materials and that the margins favoring Mr. Erlich on the first and fourth factors were thin, Judge Whyte held that the RTC's case against fair use 'is even more compelling for the unpublished works.'"

Message-ID: <5mftum$l63@netaxs.com>

#####

Mesa Picket

"[I]t sure felt good to be out picketing, solo and impromptu, at your own Centre of Hubbard Barfings. I will be doing a LOT more of it now that your web page is expanded with such juicy puffings of hatred and lies. Your friend Ginny greeted me with 'Hey, I don't know you.' (I have only been at the last 5 pickets at the Mesa, AZ org, but then Ginny IS a clear, so her memory is obviously shot. But SHE WILL recognize me and my friends - I will be there several times a week from now on."

Message-ID: <5mo3f5$t1t@nntp02.primenet.com>

####

Lisa Marie Presley

"Fever-stricken Lisa Marie Presley is in hospital after suffering crippling chest pains. Doctors last night said she has a serious kidney and liver infection. A source close to Lisa - 29-year-old ex-wife of Michael Jackson - said she was ill for nine days while friends in the cult Church of Scientology tried natural remedies. The source added: 'The infection has really taken over her body.'"

Message-ID: <0ELDJCAXQEkzIwKJ@almery.demon.co.uk>

#####

WISE Winners

First Year Winners: Ability School, New Jersey, Bruce Atkinson D.D.S., Ault Chiropractic Center, The Durable Slate Company, Family Maternity Clinic, Likeside Chiropractic Clinic, M Two Solution, Santee Animal Hospital, Shaun Kirk's Physical Therapy, Inc., Carl Smudde, D.D.S. P.C., Staun-Snyder, Inc., Studio Cermenate, Dr. Claude C. Stevens, D.C., Survival Strategies, Inc., VMM Enterprises.

"Second Year Winners: Clearly Platinum, Inc., Indianapolis Veterinary Referral, Kim Bright-Cassano Enterprises, Steinman Champagne, Inc., John M. Susko, D.D.S., U-Test Services Oy, Valko Personal Services.

"Third Year Winners: A to B School, AMC Publishing.

"The Code of a WISE Member Award: Alan Baker, Peter Buckles.

"Special Recognition Award: H. T."

Message-ID: <338DC2D4.1690@iag.net>

#####

Counter-Picketers

"Page 33 of International Scientology News issue 4 has a small photo of a bunch of church staff in black uniforms. The guy 2nd from the left in the front row looks exactly like one of the 3 people in Clearwater carrying a 'Jeff Jacobsen Porno King' sign. Source issue 107 page 10 has a photo of a bunch of people applauding inside the Ft. Harrison. The blond woman in the blue pants on the balcony is the vicious Co$'er at the candlelight vigil in Clearwater who appears on the 2nd Inside Edition article. She is yelling at someone about 'there must be many critics of Scientology 'cause 10 of them showed up here!' She spent the day bugging many of us picketers, including me. A very vile person. Someone suggested that the Scientology counter picketers in Clearwater were actually staff instead of public members. At least 2 of them apparently are staff."

Message-ID: <5ma040$970@nntp02.primenet.com>

#####

Lawsuit

"This person was seeking a refund of money after signing up for a flat fee to go clear ($25,000). S/he did not go clear and in fact claims they kicked him/her out after paying over $50,000.

"'I was assaulted by W[ ] K[ ], Ethics Officer. M[ ] S[ ], Secretary, tried to physically force me to stay at the Church of Scientology against my will. She called for W[ ] K[ ] and K[ ] B[ ], a Division 6 Supervisor, to attack me. K[ ] ran off, but W[ ] slammed me repeatedly into the wall in the back of the church for over half an hour. Finally, J[ ] D[ ], a staff member, came in and made her stop.

"'On or about XXX, J[ ] L[ ], the Academy Supervisor, showed me a silver, semi-automatic pistol, of unknown caliber, that was kept by the church to use on people. He told me 'people had been taken to the dessert and shot because they posed a threat to the church.' My experience with them has made me fear for my life.'"

"The suit was dropped in '96 because the claimant said he/she was not having enough time and money to continue."

Message-ID: <5mi6v8$34s@nntp02.primenet.com>