This was buried in another thread, but deserves wider broadcast: I remember the 1995 raids, too. At the time I thought Scn had crossed the line so blatantly that it wouldn't be allowed to continue. Boy was I wrong.
in article da21bd5453f8f24f3fbe280638a6c05f@dizum.com, Nomen Nescio at nobody@dizum.com mused on 7/23/01 9:10 PM: > What motivated Keith Henson?
>
> It's very clear to me.
>
> Back in the OLD days, around 1995 Scientology was pushing its weight
> around. They had just raided some critics homes under pretense of
> copyright violation (Erlich, Lerma and Factnet). Tom Klemesrud had
> undergone the "miss bloody butt" experience (which I believe as it
> completely fits Scientology's Modus Operandi).
I think it's particularly telling that someone here reported reading the Miss Bloodybutt plotline in book nine of Hubbard's drekology - but Tom didn't pass out, spoiling the intended outcome of his waking up in a roomful of blood and cops, unable to explain either. > Arnie Lerma's
> toothbrush had been spiked with LSD by the people who raided his home.
>
> Exciting times.
>
> Keith noticed that the NOTS (New Era Dianetics) materials were telling
> Scientologists how to cure physical conditions using the E-Meter. It
> was even the title of the DOCUMENT!!! It is against the law, and
> Scientology was even expressly foribidden from doing this in an
> earlier 1964 decision!
>
> Keith, believing in free speech like most naive Americans, decided
> this was just too outrageous to let stand and took it upon himself to
> post this document to the Internet as a publiic service/whistle blower
> activity. Scientology sued him for this (copyright violation) and the
> idiot 9th circuit judge Whyte let the case go forward! (I know judge
> Whyte from another case where he ruled in favor of a big corporate
> client, who was later found to have perpetrated a fraud upon the
> court. I think its pretty clear that judges get intimidated by
> attorneys, however subtly, and the winner in most courts is the one
> who has the most attorneys. Judges seem to equate numbers of
> attorney's with rightness.)
>
> Keith never denied doing what he did. The judge should have thrown
> this case out, saying it was "fair use" (criticism and in the public
> interest). Instead, he let it go to the jury. Juries decide matters of
> "fact", did the defendant do it or not? Since Keith never denied
> posting, he was sunk from the beginning.
>
> Keith lost and was hit with a 75,000 dollar judgement.
>
> Scientology used this judgement to continually harrass him, using it
> as a pretext to bring other actions such as deposing his teenage
> daughter. By the way, these harrassment actions are not Scientology
> only. Lots nasty litigants do this sort of thing. If you have ideals
> about American justice, don't get involved in an actual case please. I
> guess its better than no justice at all, but the judges need to be
> more fair and not just side with the people who have "more lawyers".
>
> Keith declared bankruptcy to save whatever meager assets he had
> remaining.
>
> Scientology continued to harrass him, anonymously calling Employers
> etc to get him fired (following the Hubbard policy of "ruin him
> utterly"). Keith, having nothing left to lose started picketing
> Scientology churches. He had no other means to "make an effect" upon
> his attacker than this. Keith's wife and daughter were continually
> followed by private detectives working for Scientology (even the mafia
> doesn't do this). That is plain attempt at intimidation.
>
> Keith's problem is, he is honest and open. At any time he could have
> denied doing certain things and Scientology would have had not
> evidence against him. Instead, believing in free speech, believing he
> had done nothing wrong, he never denied saying things to upset
> Scientologists, especially the management of Scientologisty. I often
> thought to myself, "Why is he talking so much? Why is he admitting so
> much?" and it dawned on me that I was doing exactly what Scientology
> was intending. To shut people up!!! But Keith refused to be silenced
> and spoke his mind.
>
I am behind this completely. By being honest and open, Keith has been punished by Scn, Inc. over and over. Even if you would discount Operation Snow White and all the old Guardian Office ops, the OSA ops against this newsgroup and people on it, the threats made, the legal papers flying, and just concentrated on Keith Henson and his experience trying to expose the corrupted behavior of an organization to which he never belonged, it would be a shocking display of concerted effort to destroy him for the crime of a taxpayer whistleblowing an MLM disguised as an NPO/NGO.
> Finally, by stretching things Keith said and wrote, Scientology was
> able to convince the District Attorney of Riverside County California
> to bring Keith up on charges relating to a California Law where it is
> illegal to deny someone the right to their religion by USE OF FORCE OR
> THREAT OF FORCE. (Why a special law is needed for this is beyond me
> since that clearly seems to be defined by a very well known crime
> called EXTORTION).
Wonder who developed that law; it seems to me over the years Scn, inc has been very prolific in courts setting precedent.
> The jury convicted him. Diane Richardson here is an example of the
> type of people on the jury. She seems to think that verbally
> harrassing people is a crime, when the law clearly states that FORCE
> OR THREAT OF FORCE is part of the crime. American's are losing their
> right to free speech because of ninnies who get their feelings hurt
> by words!
>
This is true; I'm scared of Diane and her words. Can I sue her now? I wouldn't hassle the peopleon that jury, though. They were not given the whole truth, just Eliot Abelson's part.
> Keith RIGHTFULLY fled from this (who wants to go to jail? duh).
>
If I committed a crime, I should go to jail; Keith has not committed a crime. No one presented with all sides of the story would come to that conclusion. In limine sucks; I know, it was used on me and 250 other protesters by the court in Brevard County, FL when we protested test launches of Trident II missiles in 1987...we were not allowed to say the words "God", "nuclear winter" "Nuremburg" or other common defenses. The result was most pleaded nolo contendre and went home. > Anyone who has ever been under severe pressure or stress knows you can
> act differently than normally. Often, it can push you to excell in
> ways you never though possible. Scientology creates its own enemies.
> By "ruining" people they make enemies who have nothing to lose, and
> whose main purpose in life is to undo the injustice that was done to
> them. L. Ron Hubbard even states this so he was aware of it.
>
> I don't expect anyone who has been "FAIR GAMED" by Scientology to ever
> quit talking, writing and spreading bad news about Scientology to
> everyone they meet! In fact, I'm surprised that more victims haven't
> used force to get even. I think that Scientology attracts nerdy,
> intellectual types who shy away from force, and that has caused this
> battle to be waged in an intellectual arena. Come on, the Internet?
> E-Mail is for geeks and pedophiles.
>
> Even Scientology's main attorney, Kendrick Moxon, had his daughter
> electrocuted to death at the Scientology compound in Hemet (This was
> the place Keith was protesting), the autopsy talking about her sides
> being burned beyond recognition and ripped open from the
> convulsions. Yet, like the weenie nerd he is, he continues to defend
> this organization. And of course, everything is "business as usual" at
> the Hemet location.
>
> You have to wonder when a scumbag like that wins a court case against
> an honest, open person like Keith Henson. What has American justice
> become? If perhaps he had listened to Henson, his daughter would still
> be alive, but alas, he doesn't seem to care. File that one away under
> "Scientologist Priorities"