THE Church of Scientology, one of Britain's largest cults, is being prosecuted by a local authority for failing to ensure one of its largest communes is safe for human habitation. The Independent has been leaked documents from the church headquarters that show it may have misled safety inspectors over the number of adults and children living in the commune. The church, founded by L Ron Hubbard, an American science fiction writer, after the Second World War, has its European headquarters in ...

Talk show host Sally Jessy Raphael savored her victory Thursday in an invasion of privacy lawsuit against her, but the Church of Scientology member who sued Raphael vowed to continue her struggle. A Washtenaw County jury found that Raphael and her production company did not invade the privacy of Dorothy Dickerson of Albion. Nor did they violate the state's eavesdropping law by broadcasting a surreptitiously obtained tape of a conversation between Dickerson and her children, the jury decided. Dickerson, an instructor ...

Jury deliberations were to begin this morning in a lawsuit brought by an Ann Arbor Scientologist against television talk show host Sally Jessy Raphael over the airing of a secretly taped family conversation. After four weeks of testimony by dozens of witnesses, including Raphael and the plaintiff, Dorothy Jean Dickerson, attorneys Tuesday made closing arguments in a case that puts an individual's right to privacy against the public's right to know. Washtenaw Circuit Judge Melinda Morris was to give jury instructions ...

Editor: In order to build a better future it often is necessary to let go of the past. I am referring to the Nov. 17 letter on Scientology by Gabe Cazares, which sounded much like a record stuck in the nine groove for far too long. Mr. Cazares may disagree with the IRS' exemption riling on the Church of Scientology, however, that decision followed the most thorough and demanding investigation ever conducted of any exempt organization. The result: The IRS granted ...

This is a business that was set up, according to the son of Scientology founder and science fiction writer L. Ron Hubbard, to avoid taxes. Its counseling process can cost a participant as much as $400,000, and it now claims offices in 78 countries. It reported $74.3-million in revenue last year from its Clearwater facility alone and says it will spend $185-million during the next five years to acquire more properties worldwide. It is a business that, according to records filed ...

[...] Scientology decided that Casey Hill was its "Enemy" and set out to destroy him. It levelled false charges against him. It prosecuted him on those charges. It repeated those charges after a judge had found them groundless. It repeated allegations in its pleadings and in open court which it knew were lies. It made additional serious false accusations against Casey Hill. It attacked his veracity. It accused him of putting on a performance to improperly influence the jury. In summary, ...

Making her courtroom debut in Ann Arbor, Sally Jessy Raphael hosted the morning round of testimony Thursday, defending herself in a lawsuit over an edition of her talk show about the Church of Scientology. Raphael, in a taupe suit and her trademark red eyeglasses, nodded deferentially to the jury, as if it were an audience, and interrogated lawyers. Finally, Washtenaw County Circuit Judge Melinda Morris told her to knock it off. "Put yourself in the position of people you ask questions ...

At trial over Scientologist's suit, Sally Jessy Raphael testifies to defend herself and freedom of the press. Sally Jessy Raphael canceled her show today to testify in an Ann Arbor courtroom, saying she wants to defend the freedom of the press, but she also has to defend herself. The television talk show host is one of several defendants in a $72 million lawsuit brought by a member of the Church of Scientology who claimed Raphael's show maligned her and her faith. ...

Tabloid TV queen Sally Jessy Raphael, who peers through her trademark red eyeglasses and titillates talk-show audiences with tough questions, will be asked to answer some zingers herself today in Ann Arbor. Raphael is to testify in a high-profile, lawsuit stemming from an episode about the Church of Scientology. Church staffer Dorothy Dickerson, 61, of Albion claims Raphael invaded her privacy and caused her emotional distress in 1991, after a conversation between Dickerson and her children was secretly recorded by a ...

Editor: The much publicized IRS rulings do not bestow credibility or legitimacy to Scientology. The IRS rulings cannot rewrite history or wipe the slate clean for this most destructive cult. Never forget that this cult committed what is, in my opinion, the greatest conspiracy against the government — crimes for which its top leadership went to jail. Never forget that this cult occupied Clearwater with secret military-style orders. And never forget the cult's infamous "fair game" policy, which says anyone declared ...

[PDF pages 32-34]

Woman charges Sally Jessy Raphael's airing of a conversation filmed here violated her privacy. On a warm June Sunday two years ago, Dorothy Jean Dickerson was teaching a Sunday school class when she had a surprise visit from her two grown children. They walked over to a little park in downtown Ann Arbor and talked about her religious life and how she had been out of touch with her children. The conversation, part of the children's desperate attempt to get their ...

THANK YOU, thank you, thank you for having the courage to print your Scientology story ["Catch a Rising Star," September]. I have lived in California for quite a while now and have seen the Scientology presence grow like a tumor. I have been harassed by the "nice young men" in suits and ties handing out Scientology literature. It doesn't surprise me, considering the number of people that are looking for something to believe in and will pay a lot of ...

Atkinson-baker & Associates, Inc., Plaintiff-appellant, v. James G. Kolts, in His Official Capacity, Defendant-appellee United States Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit. - 7 F.3d 1452 Submitted Oct. 20, 1993*.Decided Oct. 28, 1993 —– Michael T. Stoller, Besbris, Hollis & Stoller, Los Angeles, CA, for plaintiff-appellant. Terree A. Bowers, U.S. Atty., Leon W. Weidman, George H. Wu, Asst. U.S. Attys., Los Angeles, CA, for defendant-appellee. Appeal from the United States District Court for the Central District of California. Before: BEEZER, KOZINSKI, and ...