Press Release: on Scientology and Dianetics Regarding the Wollersheim Case

APRIL 24, 1992

"BRAINWASHING CULT MUST PAY MILLIONS."

After using celebrities like Kirste Alley and John Travolta in courtroom antics, spending an estimated 50-70 million dollars over the last 12 years in muddled legal actions, and outrageous public relations campaigns, the controversial Dianetics and Scientology cult has been handed another anvil-cracking legal blow. In one of the most expensive lawsuits since the McMartin preschool case, the California Court of Appeal on remand from the U.S. Supreme Court in Wollersheim v. the Church of Scientology, (Civ. No. B023193, LASC No.C332827,) has just delivered its latest revised decision on a case originally awarded $30 million dollars but later reduced to $2.5 million.

The Wollersheim lawsuit claimed that the hypnotic psychological techniques used by Scientology for recruiting and maintaining its membership systematically robbed Wollersheim of his ability to make independent decisions. It also claimed that Scientology's intentional, malicious, and coercive practices drove Wollersheim to the brink of insanity, suicide, and financial ruin.

Wollersheim's expert witnesses testified that Scientology's "auditing" sessions along with Scientology's other coercive practices used to convert or maintain its membership constituted brainwashing, thought Reform, and mind control similar in many ways to what the Chinese and North Koreans used to "convert" American prisoners of war. Experts who testified considered Scientology's coercive practices to be "a grave threat to both constitutional freedom of thought and the religious freedom to choose or maintain a religious membership without any degree of compulsion or coercion." Scientology has consistently claimed absolute immunity from any responsibility or liability stating that auditing is a form of religious pastoral counseling and that it and its other practices were all sacred religious doctrines and were therefore protected.

In the California Appellate court's newest blistering decision the court dismembered Scientology's every key argument, affirmed California's due process and punitive damage safeguards, and ruled that the Scientology\Dianetics cult must pay a previously reduced $2.5 million in damages. (This does not included another $2 million in accumulated interest since the original verdict.)

The court once again found that, "the patterns of activities which justified punitive damages in this case were either found not to qualify as religious expressions at all or were found not to be constitutionally protected because forced on participants like Wollersheim through emotional, psychological, and physical coercion (i.e. "auditing" and "disconnect.") Thus the imposition of punitive damages for this conduct does not impinge upon constitutionally protected religious expression. It only punishes and deters reprehensible activities which visit serious harm on others in society..." "The evidence was undisputed that the "auditing," "fair game," and "disconnect" actions taken in regard to Wollersheim were official practices of the Church of Scientology promulgated by its leaders, not some ad hoc abberational acts of individual employees." "...There is a compelling state interest in punishing and deterring this constitutionally unprotected, harmful conduct just as there is a compelling state interest in compensating the victims."

The court in this new decision also preserved intact and unaltered the scalding opinions of its original decision save the punitive section. From the California Appellate Court's original decision:

"We hold that the state has a compelling interest in allowing its citizens to recover for serious emotional injuries they suffer through religious practices they are coerced into accepting. Such conduct is too outrageous to be protected under the constitution and too unworthy to be privileged under the law of torts... "Using its position as religious leader, the church and its agents coerced Wollersheim into continuing auditing even though his sanity was repeatedly threatened by this practice... Church practices conducted in a coercive environment are not qualified to be voluntary religious practices entitled to first amendment religious freedom guarantees."

An obviously pleased Wollersheim said, "this decision is a victory for everyone who over the last 40 years, has stood up and exposed Scientology, whether it was in one of the hundreds of scathing global news stories or in the world's courts. This is a solid victory for the families who have lost their children to Scientology caused neurosis, psychosis, or suicides. It is also a powerful signal to Scientology's victims and family members to continue to fight back, to continue to disclose all of Scientology's ruthless wrongdoing, and to continue using the legal system."

Scientology has repeatedly called the Wollersheim case a, "heresy trial" and a first Amendment broadside attack on its religion, an attack in which Scientology claims "your religion may be next. "That's nonsense," snapped Wollersheim "being secretly subjected to a thought reform program made me not them, the one whose religious freedom was denied."

After the original verdict the jury foreman, Andre A. Anderson, said that the jury had NOT considered the religious organization's beliefs in reaching their decision. He said it was Scientology's "outrageous" policies which lead the jury to deliver an unanimous vote in Wollersheim's favor. "The church has various policies we felt that were in violation of civil law," The key policy cited by Anderson and other jurors was the Fair Game policy. According to the fair game policy admitted into evidence during the 6 month trial, a person "may be deprived of property or injured by any means by any Scientologist without any discipline of the Scientologist...may be tricked, sued, lied to, or destroyed."

Ed Walters a former high level Scientology intelligence operative and latter witness against Scientology stated, other religions have nothing to fear because "other religions don't seek out and destroy people who don't agree with them. "Vivki Aznerand, one of the six most senior executives in Scientology until her defection in 1987 has described Scientology as, "a criminal organization day in and day out. It makes Jim and Tammy, (Baker), look like kindergarten."

Throughout the proceedings Wollersheim was characterized by Scientology as a draft evading college dropout, con man, drug using hippie drifter, and a wife beater with severe emotional problems and as having a prior mental history. Scientology also claims, Wollersheim tried to extort money from the church and lashed out when his dreams of wealth failed to materialize.

A policy disclosed during trial by Scientology's founder, L Ron Hubbard offers another perspective, "Don't ever defend. Always attack. Find or manufacture enough threat against them to cause them to sue for peace. Originate a black public relations campaign to destroy the person's repute and to discredit them so thoroughly they will be ostracized." From another writing of Scientology's founder, "Entirely by bringing about public conviction that the sanity of a person is in question it is possible to discount and eradicate all the goals and activities of that person."

Apparently the Appellate Court saw the who's persecuting who story differently as well, "Substantial evidence supports the conclusion Scientology leaders made the deliberate decision to ruin Wollersheim economically and possibly psychologically ...Nothing... (in any) case we have been able to locate even implies a religion is entitled to constitutional protection for a campaign deliberately designed to financially ruin anybody--whether a member or non-member of that religion."

Scientology may have even bigger problems on the way. Since Wollersheim's original trial, many new key management-level defectors with critical new evidences have left Scientology.

Wollersheim is also alleging that to get the courts to reduce punitive damages by 25 million dollars, Scientology claimed and submitted a highly suspect net worth of 16 million dollars. "In my opinion this is a multi-billion dollar global organization in a bold bluff trying to make fools out of the legal system and the IRS. I am reviewing new legal actions on this fraud matter and will continue to push for a governmental criminal investigation. Now is the correct time to start putting together a coalition to put Scientology into receivership for this alleged breech of fiduciary trust and other financial frauds on its members, x-members, the public, and the government." Wollersheim claims that in his case the courts up to and including the U.S. Supreme Court have become the victims of what may turn out to be the largest financial fraud involving an organization claiming to be a religion in U.S. history."

"Society has an inalienable right to protection from the greed and illegal actions of for-profit corporations using religious fronts." Wollersheim resolutely believes, "such contemptuous betrayal of society's special trust from within the religious sanctuary's immunities deserves full investigation and decisive, deterring punishment. There has been just to much abuse by pseudo religious organizations claiming religious immunity. It's about time for a rebalancing."

According to Wollersheim, the lawsuit has never focused on personal compensation issues. "Our team has always focused on pushing this case up to the U.S. Supreme court to establish important new psychological coercion and thought reform precedents. This was critical to stop what happened to me from happening to others or passing the danger of Scientology back on to other unknowing and innocent children, teenagers, young adults and families. This group is simply too dangerous to the public's well being to have made this a personal issue.

Wollersheim says he has understanding and sympathy for, not anger at, most of the current membership and management. "Most current members, like myself, are basically good people that have become the unknowingly victims of a sophisticated thought reform process and experiment. As I was, they too were subjected to the same trance induction processes and then the 100% standardized transference of the delusions, fanaticism, and psychosis of Scientology's founder, L Ron Hubbard."

Wollersheim now believes that "The world's most dangerous cult is finally starting to receive a long overdue and just punishment." A punishment that, "will begin to deter 40 years of Scientology's malicious and barbaric activities by taking all the profit out of them. This 2 1\2 million dollar verdict will help encourage the tens of thousands of Scientology and Dianetics victims to breakout of phobias which Scientology deliberately created in them to insure their silence."

Wollersheim also said that since his original trial, "the growing number of shocking Scientology victim testimonies, scathing global media exposes, and world wide adverse criminal and civil verdicts have turned the tide against Scientology. The public and recognized religious experts no longer believe Scientology's "emperor's new clothes" religious front or their continuous "cry wolf" conspiracy stories."

"Going on after the many years of expensive in and out of court battles will be difficult," concedes Wollersheim, "but, if it will help encourage other victims of Scientology's thought reform experimentation to get out, speak out, or get legal or medical help, or it helps increase the public's awareness that there are still no specific laws against using thought reform techniques to financially and psychologically enslave others, it's well worth it."

For further information on protection, rescue, and recovery from the thought reform programs used by destructive cults, get the book from Park Street Press "Combating Mind Control," by Steve Hassan .

TO HELP SCIENTOLOGY'S VICTIMS All EFFORTS TO BROADLY PUBLISH, DISTRIBUTE, OR TRANSLATE THIS PRESS RELEASE IN THE USA OR ABROAD IS DEEPLY APPRECIATED.

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