Newsgroups: alt.religion.scientology From: dennis.l.erlich@support.com Subject: ARMSTRONG -- WHAT Message-ID: <9510111530.0LSHS02@support.com> References: <45fbm2$ej5@nyx10.cs.du.edu> Organization: L.A. Valley College Public BBS (818)985-7150 X-Mailer: TBBS/PIMP v3.35 Distribution: world Date: Wed, 11 Oct 95 15:30:42 -0700 Lines: 45 A Lurker e-mailed me this: >Too much hassle from the Curse to post this to ars, but... > >I went to the courthouse on the 6th to see the Armstrong hearing >(which was a non-hearing, just a prepared opinion from the court). > >The silver lining, such as it is: The court refused the CoS's demand >that Gerry be linked to the FACTnet archives. So that part of the >petition (item 20, as I recall) was denied. I'm not sure which was >the choicer target for the Curse in this case -- Gerry or FACTnet. >They got Gerry :/ > >Specifics included: > >1. The court ruled that it is permissable under US law to sign away > your 1st Amendment rights under contract, and cited an ATT case. > Further, he stated that such contracts need not be bilateral, and > this one was not written as such. In effect, it is a license for the > CoS to say anything it likes, to continue to fair game Gerry with > the usual DA tactics etc., and the court has opined that this is > okay, legally. > >2. He ruled that Gerry's assertions about Flynn and Fair Gaming were > "hearsay" (!). Gerry didn't prove that he was coerced to sign. > >3. He ruled that the CoS had not forced Gerry to speak, nullifying another > defense. This is probably true in light of Gerry's appearance at the > SF AGAAST picket. Gerry was not responding to particular CoS actions, > he was there making a powerful general statement about them. I'm sure > the CoS's notarized videotape of the event would have made > a strong bit of evidence here. > >Not pretty, but that's more or less the story. Thanks. I stripped your name and posted it to ars. Hope you don't mind, but there have been no first person accounts of the courthouse goings-on posted to the newsgroup. +--------------------------------------+ Rev. Dennis L Erlich * * the inFormer * * dennis.l.erlich@support.com + inForm@primenet.com "tar baby"