Scientology's fair game on Gerry Armstrong
Source “PR Newswire”
Author Kathy Gorgon
Date May 29th, 19841LOS ANGELES, May 29/PRN – Cross-examination of a former Church of Scientology
employee revealed that her fears of being harassed by the church were completely
unfounded, according to the Church of Scientology, which released court transcripts
today.During her second day of cross-examination, attorney Barrett Litt of Los Angeles elicited
an admission from Laurel Sullivan, 34, that she could not cite any factual instances to
support her earlier allegations of harassment by the church. Additionally, according to the
transcripts, she could not support her earlier testimony that others had been sued as a
form of harassment for leaving the church.Sullivan’s testimony was sought by attorneys seeking to defend Gerald Armstrong, 37, a
former church archivist who admitted that he took thousands of pages of valuable
historical material belonging to Church of Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard when he
left his position in 1981.Among the documents taken now under the custody of the court is one unpublished
manuscript of Hubbard’s valued at $1 million. The church is suing Armstrong in Los
Angeles Superior Court for the return of the documents and for $50,000 in damages.Church attorney Robert Harris of Los Angeles confronted Sullivan with sworn testimony
she had made in a prior court case which completely conflicted with her testimony in the
Armstrong trial regarding the alleged practice of “Fair Game” by the church.According to records of that testimony entered in court today, Sullivan stated that she
knew of no policies or practices of the church which try to convince or prevent people
from leaving active participation in Scientology and encourage church members to harass
people.Sullivan stated, “If somebody just left (Scientology) and said ‘I don’t want anything more
to do with it’ … then I would sit down and talk with them, and usually the people would
come back to the org (Scientology organization).”Attorney Harris asked Sullivan if she did tell the truth in her prior testimony. Sullivan
replied that she thought she did. According to church spokesman Sandy Block, the trial is
expected to continue for up to three more weeks.
Hubbard’s most recent best-selling work, “Battlefield Earth,” is not only currently in
production for the screen, but a musical sound track written by Hubbard for the book has
been released under the same title.Contact – Kathy Gorgon of the Church of Scientology at 213-662-9431.
Source “PR Newswire”
Author Kathy Gorgon
Date May 3rd, 1984 1LOS ANGELES, May 3/PRN – Hundreds of letters and telegrams from religious and
civic leaders, celebrities, and private citizens throughout tyhe country, expressing shock
and indignation at Boston lawyer Michael J. Flynn for pursuing a case which “weakens
the individual’s right to privacy and encourages vigilante acts of theft of valuable private
property,” have poured into the Church of Scientology in the last 48 hours, a Church
spokesman announced today.Church attorney John Peterson said the letters were an indication of “the massive and
instantaneous public response” to the Armstrong case, which seeks the release of
“priceless personal papers” of L. Ron Hubbard.“Americans have held as inviolable their right to privacy,” Peterson said, adding that the
Church’s legal offices have been “deluged” with letters of support in the case.Peterson revealed that the letters had come from scholars such as William Bainbridge,
sociology professor at Harvard University, celebrities such as Grammy Award winner
Chick Corea, a wide range of religious leaders, numerous business executives, and others
concerned with what he termed “our fundamental, constitutional right to privacy.”Peterson said that the case involves a claim against former church employee Gerald
Armstrong, “who illegally removed thousands of Mr. Hubbard’s priceless personal
documents from Church property while he was entrusted with their care.Contact – Kathy Gorgon of Dateline Communications at 213-662-9431 for the Church of
Scientology.
Source “PR Newswire”
Author Kathy Gorgon
Date January 24th, 19841CLEARWATER, Fla., Jan. 24/PRN – The Church of Scientology – joining other
prominent national religious groups – announced here today it has filed a federal lawsuit
asking that a charitable solicitation ordinance enacted by the city of Clearwater against
what the church termed “all religious and charitable organizations” to be declared
unconstitutional, and that the city be enjoined from enforcing it.The action by the Church of Scientology’s Flag Service Organization, headquartered in
Clearwater, came only days after an initial constitutional challenge to the ordinance –
potentially of landmark significance – was launched by a coalition of major religious
groups, including the National Council of Churches, the American Jewish Committee, the
American Baptist Church, and Americans United for Separation of Church and State.In its suit filed in U.S. District Court, Tampa, the Church of Scientology charged that the
Clearwater ordinance – which seeks to control fund-raising by churches and other
nonprofit charitable organizations in the Florida city – violates the U.S. Constitution’s
First Amendment freedoms of religion, press, speech and assembly, and other guarantees
under the First, Fourth, Fifth, Ninth and 14th amendments to the Constitution.The church asserted that the constitutionally untenable ordinance – adopted by the
Clearwater City Commission last October after urging by a Boston lawyer, Michael J.
Flynn – was specifically designed to single out the church for “harassment and
persecution” and ultimately to drive it out of the city, overtly violating the church’s
constitutional rights of free establishment and exercise, due process and equal protection
under the law.Church attorney Paul B. Johnson, commenting on the legal action, pointed out that Flynn,
paradoxically, was the same lawyer who last year claimed – abortively – that L. Ron
Hubbard, founder of Dianetics and Scientology religious technology, was a “missing
person.” Flynn was subsequently fined for contempt of court by a California district
judge.Citing the church’s lawsuit, Johnson also emphasized that while the Clearwater ordinance
may have explicitly targeted the Church of Scientology, its unconstitutionality has
“unfortunately also directly – and profoundly – affected the main-line religions. They have
perceived this and that is why, apparently, they filed their suit last week.”
Charging abridgment of freedoms and guarantees under both the United States and
Florida State constitutions, the church said the ordinance would “foster massive
entanglement between church and state” by – among other things – unfairly and
discriminatively hampering religious organizations of all kinds in their efforts to raise
funds; imposing destructively heavy regulatory procedures and punishments; and
conferring on the city of Clearwater both “extraordinary powers of censorship” and “vast
discretion” in interpreting and enforcing the vaguely worded ordinance.Contact – Kathy Gorgon of the Church of Scientology at 213-662-9431.
- Boston Attorneys Linked to Underworld In Plot To Loot Hubbard’s Estate1
- FAMCO: Anatomy of a Conspiracy
- Special Supplement: Co-Conspirators Finger Flynn in $2 Million Forgery Scheme