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Press in the News

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January 1, 1988 Clearwater Wants To Join Case Before Supreme Court Attorneys representing Clearwater in its legal battle against the Church of Scientology have asked permission to file a brief in a similar case before the U.S. Supreme Court. Clearwater is defending its 1983 charitable solicitations ordinance in court. The ordinance requires financial disclosure by any religious or charitable organization that solicits funds in Clearwater, including the Church of Scientology, which has international headquarters here. Clearwater, lawsuits, Press, Scientology and Society
December 30, 1987 City Wants To Join Supreme Court Case Attorneys representing Clearwater in its legal battle against the Church of Scientology have asked permission to file a brief in a similar case before the U.S. Supreme Court. Clearwater is defending its 1983 charitable solicitations ordinance in court. The ordinance requires financial disclosure by any religious or charitable organization that solicits funds in Clearwater, including the Church of Scientology, which has an international headquarters here. The Scientologists and several other religious groups filed lawsuits challenging the ordinance on constitutional grounds. Clearwater, lawsuits, Press
December 2, 1987 Scientologists Want Book Banned To Gag Critics, Court Told A copyright challenge to a biography of L. Ron Hubbard, controversial founder of the Church of Scientology, is part of the church's policy of using the courts to harass its critics, a Federal Court hearing was told Tuesday. "This particular use of the court is an abuse and it has nothing to with copyright at all," David Potts, lawyer for Toronto-based Key Porter, told Mr. Justice Bud Cullen. "It is an attempt to circumscribe the well-established principle you can't libel the dead or an attempt to suppress criticism in accordance with the edicts stated by Mr. Hubbard." L. Ron Hubbard, lawsuits, Press, Toronto
November 26, 1987 Scientologists Sued for $6 Million in Suicide of Man A woman filed a $6-million lawsuit in Los Angeles Superior Court on Wednesday against the Church of Scientology for allegedly driving her son to commit suicide last year. Irene Marshall said in her suit that church officials tried to destroy the close relationship she had with her son, Pedro Rimando, 22, and that their efforts drove him to leap off the sixth floor of a church-owned building in Hollywood on Nov. 25, 1986. The church "imposed certain psychologically coercive techniques" on Rimando "to exploit for power, labor and money (his) pre-existing emotional vulnerabilities and inner conflicts," the suit said. lawsuits, Los Angeles, Press
November 10, 1987 Justices Rebuff Scientology Bid for IRS Data In a blow to the Church of Scientology, a unanimous Supreme Court today made it easier for the Internal Revenue Service to withhold material sought by individuals or organizations under the Freedom of Information Act, a law aimed at curtailing government secrecy. In a case brought by the Scientologists, the court ruled 6 to 0 (with two justices not participating) that the IRS legally may refuse to disclose certain records even if the tax agency could delete anything linking those records to individual taxpayers. IRS, lawsuits, Los Angeles, Press
October 27, 1987 Ministers Decry Clergy Counseling Ruling Concerned with what they say is a governmental intrusion into church counseling, several ministers Monday decried a recent state Court of Appeal ruling that clergy who counsel "suicidal individuals" have a duty to refer those individuals to psychiatrists or other authorities qualified to prevent suicides. Press, psychiatry, Scientology and Society
October 19, 1987 City Shouldn't Pay For Guide

Clearwater Scientologists, in their ongoing "let's-be-friends" effort, have agreed to update a 2-year-old downtown shopping guide. They produced the original one and provided copies to merchants for distribution throughout the downtown area. This time they want somebody else to pick up the $6,000 to $8,000 printing bill. Scientologists and others who feel the brochure is worthwhile want the Community Redevelopment Agency to pick up the tab. "My initial reaction was there's no way I will support paying the Scientologists to do a brochure on downtown," Mayor Rita Garvey said.

Clearwater, Press, Scientology and Society
October 16, 1987 Insurance Firm Sues Boy, Father A 10-year-old boy who authorities say started a fire last year at the Hacienda Gardens apartments is being sued by the insurance company that paid $30,000 in damages. The boy was one of seven people living in a two-bedroom apartment owned by the Church of Scientology, but he was alone in the apartment when the fire broke out Oct. 21, 1986. The insurance company wants the boy and the father to reimburse the $30,000 it paid to cover the damages. The Scientologists paid the remaining $10,000 in damage to that apartment and three others, the suit said. Clearwater, Press, Stealth Scientology
April 21, 1987 Supreme Court Turns Down Scientology Plea The Supreme Court's decision clears the way for former Scientologist Larry Wollersheim to begin seizing church assets to satisfy a $30-million award he won last year. Wollersheim, who contended that the church harassed him and drove him to the brink of insanity, was awarded $5 million in compensatory damages and $25 million in punitive damages by the Los Angeles Superior Court jury. harassment, Larry Wollersheim, lawsuits, Press
April 16, 1987 L. Ron Hubbard Estate Valued at $26 Million L. Ron Hubbard, the Scientology founder and author who died in 1986, left more than $26 million in assets, excluding trust funds, according to documents filed by the executor of his estate. Total assets listed in the inventory amount to $26,305,706. They include "$25 million even" in copyright and trademark materials and $1,305,706 in oil, gas and business investments. The estate documents were prepared in Los Angeles by Norman F. Starkey, the executor of Hubbard's estate. L. Ron Hubbard, Press

Press in the News

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May 12, 2006 Polish Scientologists Ordered to Remove Tents When Scientology erected tents in Warsaw's city center to attract new members, city officials ordered them taken down. Press
September 30, 1996 Patrice Vic Trial Begins - Scientology Executive Charged with Manslaughter Trial begins in the death of Patrice Vic. Scientology executive Jean-Jacques Mazier is charged with manslaughter, and 22 other Scientologists also face charges. crimes, deaths, France, Patrice Vic, Press