Someone sent me this editorial and I am reprinting it here as a public service. As noted elsewhere I can no longer see their website without paying them a fee which I am not inclined to do and there are others interested in the subject who cannot even buy a hard copy of the paper as they live outside Florida.
The Editorial makes a good point. If everything is all above board and proper as the church claims, why are they so worried about these lawsuits and doing everything possible to distract from the real issues they raise?
Editorial: Cases shine a light into Scientology
Friday, October 4, 2013
The judges in two separate lawsuits against the Church of Scientology have made the right call to keep the focus on the church’s behavior and reject its efforts to sidetrack the cases. The church should address the accusations of misconduct directly rather than delay and obfuscate by trying to force its accusers to change lawyers.
Judges in Tampa and Texas this week properly rejected the church’s attempt to force the plaintiffs’ lawyers off the cases, which would have stalled the lawsuits and made it difficult for the church’s critics to proceed. In Tampa, U.S. District Judge James D. Whittemore ruled that two South Florida lawyers can continue to represent a California couple who accuse the church of fraud. In Texas, a state court judge rejected the church’s argument to remove lawyers representing the wife of a former high-ranking church officer who has accused the church of harassment.
The lawsuits go to the heart of some of the most serious accusations against the Church of Scientology. One involves onetime devoted church members who generously contributed to the church. The other involves the family of a former high-ranking staff member who joined former Scientology colleagues in describing in a series of articles in the Tampa Bay Times how the church mistreated staffers, intimidated them and tracked down those who left. The lawsuits could shed further light on the church’s activities, so it is no surprise Scientology lawyers are distracting the courts with side issues.
The church continues to operate in unpredictable ways under a cloud of secrecy. In August, in defiance of the city of Clearwater’s warning, it cut down two large trees near its downtown headquarters to clear space for a November event and was fined $2,000. This weekend it expected to draw thousands of Scientologists to Clearwater for the opening of its enormous Flag Building, which has been under construction for almost 15 years. That event was abruptly canceled last month without explanation. Without comment, the church also paid $3 million for part of a key city block that had long been considered by Clearwater officials as a key factor in redevelopment.
The Tampa lawsuit could shed more light on how the Church of Scientology raises and spends money. Rocio and Luis Garcia of California accuse the church of fraud and argue the church used deceptive, high-pressure pitches to get them and other Scientologists to donate millions. The Garcias donated more than $420,000 to the Flag Building and claim the church deceptively raised millions more than was needed to build the enormous project.
The Church of Scientology has consistently insisted its fundraising practices and its treatment of its staff are aboveboard and legal. If that is true, then it should instruct its lawyers to drop their stalling tactics and directly address the merits of the legal claims against the church that paint a far different picture.
Bravo! It’s about time the Church of Scientology addresses the accusations of misconduct rather than sidetracking the cases.
Wendy M.
Good very sound advice. Worth a Kings ransom as a fee paid to you.
But……a psychopath with platoons of lawyers will not waver in being “Right”
until the bodies are stacked like cordwood. History records plenty ,its a long list..
True. Sad….but true.
I have some legal advice for Miscavige. It is free advice so he will probably pour scorn on it.
1.Pay the Garcia’s back every cent they donated. It was their money to start with. It was earned by them. They gave it to the church in good faith and that good faith has been betrayed. They hold the moral high ground.
2. Pay their legal costs.
3.Leave the Garcias alone evermore.
4. Pay Monique Rathbun in full. You infringed the rights of an upstanding citizen without cause.She holds the moral high ground.
5. Pay her legal costs in full.
6. Leave Monique and Marty alone evermore.
Oh who am I kidding…..? BUT if the RCS does not do this this the RCS risks the following results
1. Paying the Garcias back every cent they donated on judgment, plus many more who will be able to rely on that precedent.
2. Paying a huge legal bill – RCS and theirs.
3. Paying Monique Rathbun in full on judgment, and RCS and her huge legal bills – driven up by RCS.
4.Losing the faith and favour of more and more and more members who will be embarrassed by the actions of the RCS and not proud or defiant or resolute. They will know of this because the press is no longer afraid to go to print/TV on the story.
The RCS has more to lose than to win…….but since they are determined to self-destruct, we will continue to watch it play out.
How about paying for shipping PC folders and ethics files all around
the world. Some of these people have over a 100 folders and that
could be a pretty penny.
We on the outside, can clearly see the situation which the church has manipulated its self into.
They claim their innocence and no wrongdoing, yet they throw obstacles in the path of justice.
Those poor bastards still in, will restimulate one of their implants which will make them believe the SPs’ are howling mad because of all the good work being done by COB.
Such a shame!
“They claim their innocence and no wrongdoing, yet throw obstacles in the path of justice.”
That says it all, JIP. Well stated.
David Miscavige, allow the world to introduce these two to you: Writing, Wall, meet The COB.
I don’t think he has any safe points anymore.
Just about every segment of the “church” violates the basic datum of: “Never use lies in PR.”
They lie about stats; lie about surveillance; lie about brutality; lie about good works; lie about disconnection; lie about where the money goes…lie, lie lie.
While some of them have blatently lied under oath, perjury is soooo much harder to get away with than lying to the press and public. Their lawyers can make blatently false accusations, but NOT under oath. It is the deposition and the testimoy they are terrified of. The looming missed witholds are causing the standard reaction. The hairs on the backs of their necks are straight up and verticle. The closer they are to the action, the more they fear being found out. They are, if not literally, at least figuratively pissing their pants. They are (especially miscavige) going to do everything they possibly can for as long as they can to avoid the witness stand.
They will not succeed.
Pow!! DM’s taken one straight in the kisser. How he can continue to claim scientology is doing better than ever with lawsuits all over the place and press like this defies reason.
Thank you, Mike. And thank you for the stand you have taken in both suits. I hope that we see an end to the cult soon. Best wishes…..
wow…very fucking good point!
Well written Editorial.
Very well written editorial. The disdain for the church and their methods bleeds through. The church’s reputation in Tampa Bay is incredible poor.
Here’s the link to this Tampa Bay Times editorial
http://www.tampabay.com/opinion/editorials/editorial-cases-shine-a-light-into-scientology/2145497
Do any of the Scientology Attorneys read the Internet? Do any research Scientology? Do they know anything about Scientology?
How do they sleep at night?
Their internet research has shown Scientology has a LOT of money to pay lawyers. The only time they don’t sleep well is when their billable hours are down or payment is overdue….
Lol, Ain’t that the truth. To be fair though, Mike, I met a young criminal barrister recently and couldn’t resist enquiring as to the the moral dilemmas faced when either defending a guilty party or prosecuting the wrongly accused. And his initial subjective reaction was to cringe with some embarrassment. But then he pointed out that, once your ‘lawyer; hat is on, the moral issue cannot be allowed to enter into the equation once a case is taken on. At that point it becomes a matter of pride and professionalism in carrying out the job you are being paid to do to the best of your ability. And, irrespective of the moral integrity of a case, a successful defence or prosecution is celebrated in the same way.
Interestingly too though (as it did belie some moral conscience), and conversely, he did allude to the equally awful feeling that accompanied the failed defence or successful prosecution of an apparently innocent case.
The individual lawyer – as part of a company – has no choice with regards to the cases coming his or her way.
So I guess, the only real choice an individual has with this line of work comes right before his or her career move when they decide to enter this arena in the first place.
Money aside then, it may not be entirely out of the question that some suppressed sympathy exists within the church’s lawyers’ ranks.
I would add with regard to the morality of legal professionals, that it is frequently the client that is shady. The U.S. justice system, both civil and criminal, is adversarial by design and each side is expected / required by the profession to represent their client with maximum effort. In most cases, is up to the bar associations to police the ethics of the lawyers in each state.
Often times what appears to be a deliberate lie by an attorney is the forwarding of the truth as they understand it from their client’s side. I would suggest that the number of times an attorney deliberately lies in court is less than would appear to an outside observer. Much of what is seen is gamesmanship and attempts to apply case law in novel ways that almost, but not quite, fit the accepted facts of any given case.
Although I know little about the US legal system it does seem peculiarly susceptible to shyster lawyer tactics that would not be given the time of day in the UK for example. However, the Judges in both these cases will be aware of the other’s case, and will see a pattern emerging, if they aren’t already clued up about the cult’s dodgy tactics. The cult’s lawyers in both cases have already used up their “goodwill” and lost their opening gambits so I wouldn’t expect either Judge now to be too sympathetic to further stalling tactics.
Accurate article and it explains the Church’s misleading tactics and, in a way, accuses them of a conduct that is secretive and irresponsible.
Very well stated indeed.
The PR of the Church is “straight down in a vertical plummeting” its highest ever…
Great point by the Times.
Wow. That last paragraph cuts to the chase and pretty much says it all.
BAM!! Yes, it sure does!