Scientology and law

The Church of Scientology has been involved in court disputes in several countries. In some cases, when the Church has initiated the dispute, questions have been raised as to its motives.[1] The Church says that its use of the legal system is necessary to protect its intellectual property and its right to freedom of religion. Critics say that most of the Church's claims are designed to harass Suppressive Persons, people who impede the progress of the Scientology movement.[2][3][4]

In the years since its inception, the Church of Scientology's lawsuits filed against newspapers, magazines, government agencies (including the United States tax collecting unit, the IRS), and individuals have numbered in the thousands. In 1991, Time magazine estimated that the Church spends an average of about $20 million per year on various legal actions,[5] and it is the exclusive client of several law firms. According to a U.S. District Court Memorandum of Decision in 1993, Scientologists "have abused the federal court system by using it, inter alia, to destroy their opponents, rather than to resolve an actual dispute over trademark law or any other legal matter. This constitutes 'extraordinary, malicious, wanton, and oppressive conduct.' ... It is abundantly clear that plaintiffs sought to harass the individual defendants and destroy the church defendants through massive over-litigation and other highly questionable litigation tactics. The Special Master has never seen a more glaring example of bad faith litigation than this."[6] Rulings such as this have classified the Church of Scientology as a chronically vexatious litigant. Legal disputes initiated by Scientology against its former members, the media or others include the following:

In the past, the Church has been involved in criminal court cases (e.g. United States v. Hubbard), but increasingly, lawsuits are being brought by former Church members against the Church, such as:

The Church's view

Scientologists say that the church's main goal is to be recognized as a religion, which on occasion has met resistance from opponents (including national governments), and this has forced it to have recourse to the courts.

One such area is recognition as an official religion in various governments around the world. Scientology's path to legal recognition as a religion in New Zealand took 48 years and several lawsuits.[8] Other efforts have had less success. In 1999, the United Kingdom rejected an application for charity status and the attendant tax benefits.[9] The church applied for Canadian tax-exempt status in 1998,[10] was reportedly rejected in 1999,[11] and is not registered as a charity as of 2009.[12] In Austria, the organization withdrew its application to register as a "religious confessional community".[13] The activities of the Church of Scientology are not prohibited or limited in any way in the European Union and Scientology enjoys the full freedom of any church in these countries.

Some governments, however, have labeled the church as a cult. Although the status is not changed or the freedom is not limited, German[14] and Belgian government entities have accused Scientology of violating the human rights of its members and therefore called it a "totalitarian cult" and a "commercial enterprise". In 1995, a parliamentary report in France classified it, along with 172 other religious groups, as a "dangerous cult."[15] In Russia, the government had refused to consider the church for registration as a religious organization, which became the subject of proceedings before the European Court of Human Rights in the case of Church of Scientology Moscow v. Russia. The court decided that Russia's refusal to consider the Church of Scientology's application for registration as a religious community "had been a violation of Article 11 (freedom of assembly and association) of the European Convention on Human Rights read in the light of Article 9 (freedom of thought, conscience and religion)."

L. Ron Hubbard and lawsuits

Critics state that the ultimate aim of Scientology lawsuits is to destroy church opponents by forcing them into bankruptcy or submission, using its resources to pursue frivolous lawsuits at considerable cost to defendants. In doing so, they draw particular attention to certain controversial statements made by the church's founder, L. Ron Hubbard, in the 1950s and 1960s.[2][3]

In 1994, Scientology attorney Helena Kobrin was fined $17,775 for filing a frivolous lawsuit.[16] U.S. District Court Judge Leonie Brinkema cited a frequently quoted statement of L. Ron Hubbard on the subject in the case of Religious Technology Center vs. The Washington Post, on November 28, 1995:[17]

The purpose of the suit is to harass and discourage rather than win. The law can be used very easily to harass, and enough harassment on somebody who is simply on the thin edge anyway, well knowing that he is not authorized, will generally be sufficient to cause professional decease. If possible, of course, ruin him utterly.
L. Ron Hubbard, The Scientologist, a Manual on the Dissemination of Material, 1955

Critics also allege that the Church uses litigation as a cover for intimidation tactics, such as investigating the criminal records (or lack thereof) of opponents and subjecting them to surveillance and invasive inquiries, both to discourage further criticism and to ensure the opponent's unwillingness to fight the lawsuit. A policy letter by L. Ron Hubbard, distributed in early 1966, says:

This is correct procedure:
  1. Spot who is attacking us.
  2. Start investigating them promptly for FELONIES or worse using own professionals, not outside agencies.
  3. Double curve our reply by saying we welcome an investigation of them.
  4. Start feeding lurid, blood sex crime actual evidence on the attackers to the press.
Don't ever tamely submit to an investigation of us. Make it rough, rough on attackers all the way.[18]

Critics of Scientology cite this passage, among others (such as the widely documented Fair Game doctrine), to support their contentions that the church uses smear tactics to augment the effectiveness of legal threats.[2][3]

Scientology court cases

Grand jury charges from the case of United States of America v. Mary Sue Hubbard (DDC, 1979).

Notable Scientology court cases include the following:

Cases before the European Court of Human Rights

Cases in the USA

[McPherson family attorney Ken] Dandar has persevered through a seemingly endless barrage of legal attacks. There have been nine attempts to disqualify him, and four attempts to remove Lisa's aunt, Dell Liebreich, as executor of Lisa's estate. Scientology attorneys have filed bar complaints against both him and Lirot, lawsuits against Lisa's family, and motions to remove judges and move the case to other venues. When asked how going up against Scientology compares to normal litigation, [First Amendment attorney Luke] Lirot replied, "It's like comparing LSD to orange juice." ... The wrongful death case went through four judges in seven years.[30]

Cases in the UK

Cases in Canada

In this case, there was ample evidence upon which the jury could properly base their finding of aggravated damages. The existence of the file on Casey Hill under the designation "Enemy Canada" was evidence of the malicious intention of Scientology to "neutralize" him. The press conference was organized in such a manner as to ensure the widest possible dissemination of the libel. Scientology continued with the contempt proceedings although it knew its allegations were false. In its motion to remove Hill from the search warrant proceedings, it implied that he was not trustworthy and might act in those proceedings in a manner that would benefit him in his libel action. It pleaded justification or truth of its statement when it knew it to be false. It subjected Hill to a demeaning cross-examination and, in its address to the jury, depicted Hill as a manipulative actor.[40]

Cases in France

See also

References

  1. Frantz, Douglas (March 9, 1997). "An Ultra-Aggressive Use of Investigators and the Courts". The New York Times. Retrieved 2007-12-27.
  2. 1 2 3 Sappell, Joel; Welkos, Robert W. (June 29, 1990). "On the Offensive Against an Array of Suspected Foes". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2007-08-13.
  3. 1 2 3 Charles L. Stafford; Bette Orsini (January 9, 1980). "Church moves to defend itself against 'attackers" (PDF, 905K). St. Petersburg Times. Original (18M)
  4. Staff; Anderson Cooper (April 14, 2007). "Anderson Cooper 360 Degrees – Inside Scientology". Anderson Cooper 360°. CNN.
  5. 1 2 Behar, Richard (May 6, 1991). "The Thriving Cult of Greed and Power". Time Magazine. p. 50. Retrieved 2006-08-09.
  6. RTC v. Robin Scott, U. S. District Court, Central District of California, No. 85-711-JMI (Bx) 85-7197-JMI (Bx), January 20, 1993, Memorandum of Decision
  7. http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/feedarticle/10626116 California couple sues over donations to Scientology, The Guardian, January 23, 2013 (accessed on February 22, 2013)
  8. "IRD recognises Scientology church as charity" (Press release). Human Rights Without Frontiers International. December 27, 2002. Retrieved 2006-08-09.
  9. The Charity Commission (November 17, 1999). Decision of the Commissioners on the application by the Church of Scientology (England and Wales) for registration as a charity (PDF). Retrieved on 2006-08-09.
  10. J. Saunders & T. Appleby, Scientology Seeks Tax Receipt Status, The Globe and Mail, January 19, 1998, A1, A6.
  11. Gregg Hagglund (November 14, 1999). "Charity status reported turned down". Newsgroup: alt.religion.scientology. Usenet: 130919992016161959%[email protected]. Retrieved 2006-08-09.
  12. Canada Revenue Agency Charity List
  13. International Religious Freedom Report 2006, U.S. State Department
  14. "Scientology and Germany, Understanding the German View of Scientology". German Embassy in Washington, D.C. Retrieved 2006-08-09.
  15. French National Assembly Report of the Board of Inquiry into Cults (1995-12-22, in French, English translation available)
  16. "Scientology's Scientologist Attorney Helena Kobrin". Retrieved 2006-08-09.
  17. "Religious Technology Center vs. The Washington Post".
  18. Attacks on Scientology by L. Ron Hubbard, "HCO Policy Letter of 15 February 1966"
  19. European Court of Human Rights first section Judgment on Application no. 18147/02 by CHURCH OF SCIENTOLOGY OF MOSCOW against Russia Archived May 26, 2011, at the Wayback Machine. (April 5, 2007). Retrieved on 2007-04-09.
  20. Wikisource:Church of Scientology v. Armstrong
  21. Church of Scientology v. Superior Court, not reported in Cal.Rptr.3d (Cal.App. 1 Dist.), ¶¶2–7 s:Church of Scientology International v. Superior Court
  22. Frantz, Douglas (March 9, 1997). "Scientology's Puzzling Journey From Tax Rebel to Tax Exempt". New York Times. Retrieved 2007-10-26.
  23. Morgan, Lucy (January 28, 1998). "Hardball: When Scientology goes to court, it likes to play rough – very rough.". Special Report. St. Petersburg Times. Retrieved 2007-10-26.
  24. Goldsmith, Steven (September 30, 1995). "Sect member awarded $5 million in kidnap case". Seattle Post-Intelligencer. Retrieved 2007-12-29.
  25. Archived August 9, 2010, at the Wayback Machine.
  26. "NL Supreme court ends 10-year-old Scientology case". EDRI. January 18, 2006. Archived from the original on September 18, 2006. Retrieved 2006-08-09.
  27. Borland, John (November 9, 1998). "Scientology loses copyright round". CNET. Archived from the original on July 11, 2012. Retrieved 2007-08-03.
  28. Macavinta, Courtney (March 30, 1999). "Scientologists settle legal battle". CNET. Archived from the original on July 13, 2012. Retrieved 2007-08-03.
  29. Farley, Robert (May 29, 2004). "Scientologists settle death suit". St. Petersburg Times. Retrieved 2007-09-01.
  30. David S. Touretzky, Razor (Web-based magazine) article, "A Church's Lethal Contract," January 2004
  31. 1 2 Wikisource:Wollersheim v. Church of Scientology
  32. "Scientology cult pays $8,674,643 to ex-member to end 22-year legal battle." (Press release). Fight Against Coercive Tactics Network. May 9, 2002. Archived from the original on September 3, 2006. Retrieved 2006-08-09.
  33. Ortega, Tony (June 30, 2008). "Scientology's Crushing Defeat". The Village Voice. Retrieved 2008-06-30.
  34. Wikisource:Religious Technology Center v. Gerbode
  35. Apology to Bonnie Woods from the Church of Scientology and other defendants, June 8, 1999.
  36. Text of apology to Bonnie Woods
  37. Stars' cult pays out £155,000 over hate campaign, Richard Palmer, The Express, June 8, 1999.
  38. Scientologists pay for libel, Clare Dyer, The Guardian, June 9, 1999.
  39. "Woods vs. Scientology Court Case". Retrieved 2006-08-09.
  40. Hill v. Church of Scientology of Toronto, Full text of Supreme Court of Canada decision at LexUM
  41. . St. Petersburg Times. March 29, 1999 http://www.sptimes.com/News/32999/Worldandnation/Abroad__Critics_publi.html. Retrieved 2009-07-28. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  42. . Boca Raton News. December 12, 1982 https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=YSwQAAAAIBAJ&sjid=cY0DAAAAIBAJ&dq=l%20ron%20hubbard%20convicted%20france&pg=6790%2C4530862. Retrieved 2009-07-28. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  43. . The Age. February 21, 1978 https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=oQYQAAAAIBAJ&sjid=8pIDAAAAIBAJ&pg=3949,2428446&dq=l+ron+hubbard+convicted+france. Retrieved 2009-07-28. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  44. Davies, Lizzy (May 25, 2009). "Church of Scientology goes on trial in France". London: The Guardian. Retrieved 2009-07-28.
  45. "Church of Scientology on trial in France". The Sydney Morning Herald. May 26, 2009. Retrieved 2009-07-28.
  46. "Scientology on trial in France", BBC, May 25, 2009
  47. "LOI n° 2009-526 du 12 mai 2009 de simplification et de clarification du droit et d'allègement des procédures" (in French). Legifrance. Retrieved 2012-06-26.
  48. "Simplifions le droit : sauvons la Scientologie – Journal d'un avocat". Maitre-eolas.fr. Retrieved 2012-06-26.
  49. Erlanger, Steven (October 27, 2009). "French Branch of Scientology Convicted of Fraud". The New York Times. Retrieved 2009-10-27.
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