defamation
defamation in the News
| January 15, 1980 | Group Awaits Church Records In Libel Case | A group of Albertans being sued for libel by the Church of Scientology are still awaiting delivery of church financial documents that court decisions have ruled must be turned over to them for use in their trial, which begins in four weeks. The church was ordered six weeks ago to produce the records for use by the defendants but Calgary lawywer Ken Staroszik, who represents seven of the eight, says the records have not been produced. | |
| April 5, 1985 | Judge Rules Out Videotapes Aimed At Discrediting Witness | An attempt to discredit a witness testifying against the Church of Scientology in a fraud trial hit a snag Thursday when a Portland judge called surreptitiously made videotapes an "amateurish performance" and refused to let them be shown to the jury. "I think they are devastating, devastating against the church," Multnomah Circuit Judge Donald H. Londer said out of the presence of the jury after viewing 108 minutes of tape recorded in a Los Angeles park last November. | |
| October 28, 1988 | Church Lawyer Alleges Ministry Bias | Premier David Peterson has been asked to appoint independent lawyers to prosecute the Church of Scientology, after allegations that the Attorney-General's Ministry is caught in a conflict of interest. Lawyers for the church also asked the provincial auditor yesterday to examine the propriety of the ministry's having financed a civil suit launched by one of its own lawyers against the church and several media outlets. | |
| January 21, 1993 | Scientology's Accusations Are Unfounded: Letters | Please set the record straight for your readers. After monitoring CAN for more than a decade, Scientology has been able to find nothing that holds up under scrutiny on CAN's supposed criminality. If it had been paying a little less attention to the cult awareness movement and a little more attention to its own organization, maybe the Church of Scientology of Toronto and its officials would not have been found guilty of spying on government agencies up there. Maybe Mary Sue Hubbard, wife of Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard, and several other top Scientology officials wouldn't have gone to prison for felony convictions here in the United States. | |
| January 19, 1997 | Hounded by the Church of Stars and Hype | Some of Hollywood's biggest names have accused Germany of persecuting the Church of Scientology. But in Britain, the church itself is accused of using dirty tricks to harass its critics. In 1993, leaflets denouncing Bonnie as a "hate campaigner" were handed out and she sued for libel. The church countersued and has since mounted two further actions against them. A private investigator precipitated further proceedings. | |
| January 17, 2001 | Church Of Scientology Fails To Prove Malicious Intent Of Time Magazine Writer | The Church of Scientology did not show that the author of a 1991 article in Time magazine was malicious in his description of the organization, a U.S. court has ruled. In affirming a lower court's dismissal of a libel action, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit said there was no likelihood that a jury would find "purposeful avoidance of the truth" in an article titled "Scientology: The Cult of Greed" by Richard Behar. | |
defamation in the News
| September 17, 1984 | Scientology representatives slander Canadian prosecutor Casey Hill on the steps of the Toronto courthouse | Morris Manning, Scientology's barrister, and Scientology representatives hold a press conference on the steps of the courthouse in Toronto. They allege that Casey Hill, who prosecuted Scientology in the breach of trust case, had misled a Supreme Court judge and breached court orders sealing documents belonging to Scientology. Ultimately, Manning and Scientology will be found to have libelled Hill and slammed with the biggest libel fine in Canada's history. | |
| October 4, 1991 | Scientology Libels Casey Hill Again - The Day after Jury Finds them Guilty | The day after a jury finds Scientology and their attorney, Morris Manning, guilty of libelling Casey Hill and slaps Scientology and Manning with a $1.6 million fine, Scientology republishes the libel against Hill in a press release delivered to the media. | |
| April 1, 1997 | Scientologists are convicted of defaming Fran | Scientologists are convicted of defaming Fran | |
| February 17, 1998 | Two Scientologists | Two Scientologists, B. and P., lose their appeal of a defamation conviction. They are found guilty of slandering Fran | |
| May 15, 1999 | Campbell Picket | Keith Henson pickets in Campbell, California. Notes: Keith gives Xenu fliers to personality test recipients | |
| June 1, 1999 | Scientology distributes a leaflet showing a photograph | Scientology distributes a leaflet showing a photograph of Bonnie Woods above the words "Hate Campaigner Comes to Town". A group of Scientologists put the leaflet in the mail boxes of the Woods' neighbors and handed it out to members of the public on East Grinstead High Street. The leaflet described Mrs Woods as a "hate campaigner" and a "deprogrammer"; it also cast doubt on the sincerity of her claims to be a born-again Christian. Six years later, Scientology will admit these allegations to be false and apologize in open court for libelling her. | |
| June 18, 1999 | San Jose Picket | Meklar and kEvin picket in San Jose, California. Notes: no sprinkler tech, no Darlene, but kEvin gets DA fliers. | |
| July 10, 1999 | Washington Picket | Rod Keller, Arnie Lerma, and Nukewaster picket in Washington, DC. Notes: handed out DA fliers - Leslie didn't know what hers said. | |
| December 1, 1999 | Scientology pickets Barb Warr's home and distributes | Scientology pickets Barb Warr's home and distributes a libellous flier about her in retaliation for her participation in the Lisa McPherson memorial in Clearwater. | |
| August 1, 2000 | Scientology distributes copies of Freiheit (Freedom) magazine | Scientology distributes copies of Freiheit (Freedom) magazine by mail to Berlin residents. They allege that Bob Minton has been involved in fraud, money-laundering, and forgery. A few months later, they will be found guilty of libelling Minton, fined, and prohibited from republishing the libel. | |
| January 1, 2001 | A Scientology web site libels Barb Warr | A Scientology web site libels Barb Warr (Barb Graham) by calling her an anti-religious extremist and falsely implying that she and others listed on the site are inciting violence. | |
| February 2, 2001 | Dorsai defames Karin Spaink and Zenon Panoussis | Dorsai defames Karin Spaink and Zenon Panoussis on ars, claiming they are criminals. | |
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