scientology's history of harassing writers of books

8/14/2019 Scientology's History of Harassing Writers of Books

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Subject: Scientology's history of harassing writers of books (edition 1.1.6)Newsgroups: alt.censorship,comp.org.eff.talk,alt.religion.scientology,misc.legal

The following is a short and incomplete history of Scientology'sattempts to harass writers of books and suppress their work, by legal andillegal means. To keep this from being even longer than it now is,I've confined it to authors of books only, leaving aside writers andpublishers of newspaper and magazine articles, as well as broadcasters.

This is edition 1.1.6 of this file. Changes since 1.1:- added material on Stewart Lamont's _Religion Inc_- added material on Maurice Burrell's _Scientology_- added material on John A. Lee's _Sectarian Healers and Hypnotherapy_

Changes since 1.0:

- added material on Paulette Cooper from Stewart Lamont's _Religion Inc._- added excerpt from Russell Miller's article in _Punch_- added material about harassment of Jon Atack, from

_Evening Argus_ (Sussex, UK newspaper)- added short paragraph on Cyril Vosper's _The Mind Benders_,

from Robert Kaufman's _Inside Scientology_- added a paragraph on John Symonds' _The Great Beast_,

from Stewart Lamont's _Religion Inc._

You can always get the latest edition of this file fromhttp://www2.thecia.net/users/rnewman/scientology/harass/writers.txt

from Jon Atack's _A Piece of Blue Sky_part 8, chapter 1, "Scientology at Law", page 327:

"In the 1970s, the Church fought to prevent the sale of books criticalof Scientology. They failed in this attempt, but caused authors GeorgeMalko, Paulette Cooper, Cyril Vosper, and Robert Kaufman considerable

difficulty (not only from the law suits: Roy Wallis, in his_Salvation and Protest_, described the harassment he received afterwriting about Scientology). In 1982, Paulette Cooper, author of_The Scandal of Scientology_, testified that the Church had brought_eighteen_ suits against her. More recently Russell Miller has defendedagainst attempts to prevent distribution of his _Bare-Faced Messiah_in England, Canada, Australia, and the United States."

------------- Jon Atack's A PIECE OF BLUE SKY --------

from Jon Atack's _A Piece of Blue Sky_:Epilogue, page 397:

"At the end of May 1989, Scientology's New Era Publications filed suitagainst the publishers of this book, alleging infringement of copyright. Eventhe Scientologists could find no precedent in U.S. law for their demand to seethe manuscript prior to publication. As Mel Wulf, the defending attorney,expressed the situation, "Such an order would...have the inevitable effect ofcasting a chill upon freedom of speech and of the press." His argument was invain; in an opinion issued at the end of July, Judge Louis L. Stanton ordereddelivery of the final manuscript to the Scientologists."

"In January 1990, Judge Stanton prohibited publication of _A Piece of Blue



Sky_ on grounds of copyright violation. However, the appeal was successful,and the three judges ruled unanimously that the book could retain all 121passages complained of by New Era."

In March of 1994, Jon Atack had to put up with placard-wavingdemonstrators outside his home, as well as leaflets sent to neighborsaccusing him of an "unprosecuted history of drug dealing". Inaddition, a private detective has been snooping on his family and that

of his wife. [Source: Evening Argus of Sussex, England, April 12, 1994.]

----------- Russell Miller's BARE-FACED MESSIAH ---------

from Bent Corydon's _L Ron Hubbard: Messiah or Madman?_ (2nd edition)part 1, chapter 26, pages 266-267:

"Russell Miller is no stranger to Scientology harassment. Hisbiography of Hubbard entitled, _The Bare-Faced Messiah_ was initiallypublished in England several months after the release of _Messiah or Madman?_in America. It had to contend with a number of harassive lawsuits;however Scientology was unsuccessful in stopping the book, and it wasreleased throughout the British Commonwealth."

The book goes on to describe an attempt to frame Miller for the murderof a South London private detective, reported by the Sunday Times ofLondon. In November 1979, a detective hired by the Church shotat a Sunday Times reporter.

"[Scientology] challenged Miller's biography in the United States ona legal technicality and won a much disputed court decision. As a result_Bare Faced Messiah_ is available in Great Britain, and throughout theUnited Kingdom, but difficult to find in the USA."

The book's US edition went out of print after just one month due tolitigation. [Source: phone conversation with sales and publicity

staff at Henry Holt Publishing in New York City]

from "See You In Court", a first-person article by Russell Millerin _Punch_ magazine, 19 Feb. 1988, page 46:

"Indeed, I had barely started researching the bizarre lifeand times of L. Ron Hubbard before the first of many lawyer's lettersarrived, advising me to desist and threatening dire consequences if Ipersisted.

"Attorneys acting for Mr. Hubbard's estate even took the trouble toinform my publishers in New York and London that I was a liar. Sothoughtful."

"Strange things happened. I was followed for several days in LosAngeles. I was told my house was under constant surveillance, my mailwas being intercepted, and my telephone was tapped. I became awarethat teams of private detectives were trawling my friends andassociates in both Europe and the United States, apparently in thehope of proving that I was an agent for the CIA, or the KGB, or MI5,or a duplicitous combination of all three. It seems they believed Itook a mini-break from the book to bump off an American in EastBerlin."



------------ Bent Corydon's L. RON HUBBARD: MESSIAH OR MADMAN? -------

from Corydon's book,preface, pages 11-12:

"In 1986, after the `Church' discovered that the book you arereading was being written, a roughly 6'4" 250 lb man in a black leatherjacket and gloves arrived at my workplace asking for me.

"Failing to locate me, he told one of my assistants, `Since Corydon'snot here, you'll do.' He then yelled, `You are standing in the way ofRon's bridge!' and proceeded to punch him in the face, and knock him around.[Footnote: This person's name is Dennis Clarke. He has since beenpromoted to the position of `Director' of The Citizen's Commission onHuman Rights, one of Scientology's `front groups'. He now wears asuit and tie, and eye-glasses.]"

from Corydon's book,chapter 25, "Scientology's War on Your Right to Know", pages 261-4

"It became painfully obvious, during the early stages of the

writing of _L. Ron Hubbard, Messiah or Madman?_ that publishing houseswere AFRAID of Scientology. Scientology's army of `secret agents', goonsin leather jackets, and well paid lawyers diligently carrying outHubbard's policy of harassment through frivolous litigation, DO havean impact.

"There were many efforts made to stop _Messiah or Madman?_ fromreaching publication. (These included a bizarre attempt to havePublisher Lyle Stuart jailed for refusing to provide a pre-publicationcopy of the book, and an unsuccessful attempt by a private investigatorto bribe the printer into providing an advance copy. An attempt forwhich he was later arrested by the New Jersey Police.)"

Corydon goes on to discuss a number of physical threats andgroundless slander and libel suits that Scientology threw at him,during his 1987 book tour, including three in a single week(See footnote, page 422.).

The church sent a letter to the _St. Petersburg Times_ (in Florida)stating the following:

"It has come to our attention that...[you] are consideringpublication of a review of _L. Ron Hubbard, Messiah or Madman?_ byBent Corydon....If you forward one of his lies you will find yourself incourt facing not only libel and slander charges, but also charges forconspiracy to violate civil rights. If you publish anything at all

on it, you may still find yourself defending charges in court...We knowa whole lot me about your institution and motives than you think." (Thenewspaper didn't give in, and went on to win a Columbia Journalism Reviewaward.)

---------- Paulette Cooper's THE SCANDAL OF SCIENTOLOGY ----------

from Roy Wallis's _The Road to Total Freedom_, page 218-19:

"Forged letters and documents have proved a source of embarrassmentto others who have criticized or commented on Scientology. Paulette



Cooper, author of a work hostile to Scientology, was the subject of atotally defamatory circular, allegedly written by `a concerned neighbor',which sought to mobilize the tenants of her apartment block to secure her`removal from our residence, and if possible, have her put under appropriatepsychiatric care.' (Representations by the Church of Scientology make itincumbent upon me to indicate that Miss Cooper's writings on Scientologyhave been the subject of much litigation. Sums in settlement andapologies from the publishers concerned, have been received by the Church

of Scientology in respect of an article in _Queen_ magazine, and thebook _The Scandal of Scientology_."

That was written in 1977. Much more became known later:

------from Bent Corydon's _L Ron Hubbard: Messiah or Madman?_preface, page 11:

"In 1970 Paulette Cooper wrote, and had published, a book called_The Scandal of Scientology_ containing some biographical matter onHubbard. She was hounded by Church of Scientology agents for a decade,and at one point was almost convicted on Federal felony charges, having been

framed by Church agents.

"Documents obtained by the FBI in 1977 revealed an elaborate planto have her incarcerated, or have her driven to suicide. She finallyreceived a large cash settlement from the Church, with the understandingthat she would not press criminal charges against Scientology, and alsowould stop the publication of her new book on the subject."

-------from Jon Atack's _A Piece of Blue Sky_:part 5, chapter 1, "The Guardian Unguarded", pages 223-224:

"After the publication of her book _The Scandal of Scientology_, in 1971,Paulette Cooper became a major target for harassment. Distribution of herbook was severely restricted through a series of court actions in differentstates, and even different countries. Cooper simply did not have thelegal or financial resources to defend against all of these actions. Asa result of a GO [Scientology Guardian's Office] Op she was indicted formaking a bomb threat against the Church of Scientology. The GO wantedto finish her off for good. Operation Freakout was intended to putCooper either into prison or into a mental hospital.

"A U.S. Court Sentencing Memorandum gave this description of OperationFreakout:

In its initial form Operation Freakout had three different plans.The first required a woman to imitate Paulette Cooper's voice andmake telephone threats to Arab Consulates in New York. The secondscheme involved mailing a threatening letter to an Arab Consulatein such a fashion that it would appear to have been done byPaulette Cooper. Finally, a Scientology field staff member wasto impersonate Paulette Cooper at a laundry and threaten thePresident and the then Secretary of State, Henry Kissinger.A second Scientologist would thereafter advise the FBI of the threat.

"Two additional plans to Operation Freakout were added on April 13, 1976.



The fourth plan called for Scientology field staff members who had ingratiatedthemselves with Cooper to gather information from Cooper, so that Scientologycould assess the success of the first three plans. The fifth plan was fora Scientologist to warn an Arab Consulate by telephone that PauletteCooper had been talking about bombing them.

The sixth and final part of Operation Freakout called for Scientologiststo obtain Paulette Cooper's fingerprints on a blank piece of paper,

type a threatening letter to Kissinger on that paper, and mail it."

[Atack cites as his source "Sentencing memorandum in U.S.A. vs. JaneKember, District Court, DC, criminal case #78-401, page 23. Jane Kemberran the Church of Scientology's Guardian's Office from 1969 to 1981.She was sentenced to 2-6 years for "burglary, aiding and abetting."]

In addition, Atack's book contains (part 6, chapter 4, "The ClearwaterHearings", pages 278-280) a long account of writer Paulette Cooper'stestimony before the City Commissioners of Clearwater, Florida, in May 1982.Cooper describes the Church's campaign of harassment against her, whichincluded:

anonymous phone calls to her and her familyanonymous leaflets sent to neighbors accusing her of being

a prostitute and child molestera phony "flower delivery man" who pointed a gun at her cousin Joy,

then tried to choke Joyfalse reports to the Attorney General's office, IRS, and other agenciessending detectives to harass her and her motherfalse charges that Cooper had sent bomb threats, causing her tobe indicted (eventually, the charges were dropped)

stealing her medical recordsbreaking into her lawyer's office

Quoting from Atack, page 280:

"It took over two years for the bomb threat charges against Cooperto be dropped. She was completely exonerated after the FBI found theGO [Scientology Guardian's Office] Orders for the Ops against her. Bythat time her book, _The Scandal of Scientology_, had long been outof print. The Guardian's Office had even imported small quantities intoforeign countries, so they could obtain injunctions against its distribution.Copies were stolen from libraries and bought up from used book shops,then destroyed."

------

Another account of Cooper's testimony can be found in Bent Corydon's

_L. Ron Hubbard: Messiah or Madman?_, in part 1, chapter 14: "Freaking OutPaulette: A Six Year Operation to Drive a Journalist Insane", pages172-178.

-------from Stewart Lamont's _Religion, Inc._, pages 71-72:

"Books about Scientology have a greater permanency than newspaper articlesand therefor it should not come as a surprise that vigorous smear-campaignshave been conducted against the authors of such investigations. The firstbook to run foul of the church was _The Scandal of Scientology_ by



journalist Paulette Cooper, which was written in 1971. To try to silenceher, the Church of Scientology cooked up a scheme to steal some of herstationery and make it appear that she had sent them two bomb threats.One of the forgeries read:

'James, this is the last time I'm warning you. I don't know whyI'm doing this but you're all out to get me andI'll give you one week before Scientology is an exploding volcano.

I'll knock you out if my friends won't.'

"The Scientologists themselves then called in the police and as a resultPaulette Cooper was arrested and indicted on three counts, facing up tofifteen years in jail if convicted. She told the _60 Minutes_ televisionprogramme in April 1980:

'The whole ordeal fighting these charges took eight months.It cost me $19,000 in legal fees. I went into such a depression.I couldn't eat. I couldn't sleep. I couldn't write.I went down to 83 pounds. Finally I took and passed a sodiumpentothal -- or truth serum -- test and the Government droppedthe charges against me in 1975.'

"Further tactics were to write her phone number and obscene graffition walls in New York City where she lives, and put her name onpornographic mailing lists.

"When the Clearwater scandal broke and she was booked to appear inFlorida at broadcaster [Bob] Snyder's invitation, the churchdecided to 'handle' its old nemesis in a new operation entitled'Freakout'. Its goal was 'to get P.C. incarcerated in a mentalinstitution or jail or at least hit her so hard that she dropsher attacks'.

"Phase one involved telephone threats to Arab consulates by a voice

impersonator (Ms Cooper is Jewish). Phase two, sending a threateningletter along the old bomb-hoax lines to such a consulate. Phase three,an impersonator would publicly threaten the President and HenryKissinger while another Scientologist would tip off the authorities.Phase four, agents who had ingratiated themselves with Cooper (she atone time apparently had a relationship with a Church of Scientology manwho was working as an undercover agent) would help assess the successof the plan and if necessary notepaper bearing her fingerprints wouldbe typed over with a bomb threat to Kissinger.

"'Operation Freakout', however, didn't get off the ground. Althoughshe appeared in the television programme in 1980 and at the Clearwaterhearing instigated by attorney Michael Flynn, Cooper eventually signed

a truce with Scientology and was offered a settlement (see pages 142-3).For some of the campaigners, the hassle, the wounds, the possibilitythat justice may not be done, makes them back off."

----from _Religion Inc._, pages 142-3:

"PAULETTE COOPER, as we saw in Chapter 4, was up there among the chiefenemies of Scientology and was high in the damages stakes with a suitfor $55 million when [Boston attorney Michael] Flynn became herattorney. In 1982 she participated as one of his star witnesses in



the Clearwater hearings (at which the Church of Scientology declinedto testify since it could only put its case at the conclusion).Flynn, she now says, persuaded her that she should name Hubbardin her suit since he would not appear and therefore she would winby default or because the Church of Scientology would pay uprather than produce Hubbard.

"But in a dramatic reconciliation with its old enemy in 1985 the Church

of Scientology proudly announced that it had settled all cases for anagainst Ms Cooper and brandished an affidavit in which she saysFlynn misled her into thinking Hubbard was still in charge of theChurch of Scientology and had used her in a strategic campaign. In theelaborate game of bluff and counter-bluff, accusation and recusal,perhaps nothing should surprise the observer of Scientology. It wouldbe nice to think this was a story of reconciliation, a truly religiousstory with a happy ending, but judging by the tactics adopted bythe Church of Scientology to discredit Ms. Cooper, I am inclined to thinkit is more likely the case of a psychologically battered womanthrowing her towel into the ring."

-----------Cyril Vosper's THE MIND BENDERS ---------

from Robert Kaufman's _Inside Scientology_, page 263:

"A recent British publication which the Scientologists triedto ban, _The Mind Benders_ by Cyril Vosper (Neville Spearman),covers some of Malko's ground in greater detail; Vosper wasa Scientologist for fourteen years."

from Roy Wallis's _The Road to Total Freedom_, page 205:

"Books critical of Scientology have often been the subject ofextensive litigation. At one stage in the litigation connected with Cyril

Vosper's _The Mind Benders_, a High Court judge was reported as saying ofapplications by the Church of Scientology that its author and a newspapereditor be committed to prison for contempt of court, that these actionswere deliberately taken `to try and stifle any criticism or inquiry intotheir [the Church of Scientology's] affairs." [Footnote: _Daily Telegraph_,4 March 1972.]

from Wallis, page 219:

"Cyril Vosper alleges that a copy of his manuscript disappeared fromhis lodgings, and, while on holiday in Spain, he was questioned bythe police when they opened a parcel addressed to the place in which hewas staying, containing obscene caricatures of General Franco."

-----------Robert Kaufman's INSIDE SCIENTOLOGY ---------

from Roy Wallis's _The Road to Total Freedom_, page 219-220:

"Olympia Press, the publishers of Robert Kaufman's _Inside Scientology_,were also attacked by means of forged documents. These documents,circulated to newsagents and booksellers, were written on headed Olympianotepaper. They suggested that in the light of litigation in which Olympiawas involved, all stocks of the firm's books should be returned forcash refunds. A further forged letter purportedly emanating from Olympia's



accountants, claimed that Olympia was going into liquidation. The officersof Olympia have also alleged that illegal entry was made to theirpremises, that galley proofs of Kaufman's book were stolen from theprinters, and that their files were tampered with." [Footnote:_The Observer_ (London newspaper), 29 July 1973]

"Kaufman, who is also a musician, found that his booking for aconcert hall was cancelled mysteriously prior to a performance. While

he was appearing on a `phone-in' radio programme, a man telephoned,alleging that he had been a male nurse in a psychiatric hospital in whichKaufman had been a patient. He claimed to have seen Kaufman's psychiatricrecords and alleged that Kaufman had been diagnosed as a `paranoidschizophrenic with castration fears and homosexual tendencies.'

---------- George Malko's SCIENTOLOGY: THE NOW RELIGION -----------

from Paulette Cooper's _The Scandal of Scientology_, pages 70-71:

"On September 30, 1970, it was reported in the _New York Post_ thatthe Scientologists were suing Delacourt Publishers and author GeorgeMalko for a book they did on Scientology."

from Roy Wallis's _The Road to Total Freedom_:

page 7 footnote: (following a list of books he consulted)"It should be noted that of these works, that by [Maurice] Burrell waswithdrawn shortly after it appeared, and the publishers of the worksby Cooper and Malko have undertaken not to reprint them."

page 22 footnote: "Malko's book has been withdrawn by its publishers whoalso paid a legal settlement."

--------- Roy Wallis, author of THE ROAD TO TOTAL FREEDOM ---------

Wallis, page 219:

"Following the distribution of an article by the present writer [Wallis],commenting on Scientology, a young man, later discovered to have beena Scientology staff member, visited the author at a university at whichhe was employed. He used a false name and sought to win the author'sconfidence. He was later found to have made personal inquiries of studentsand others concerning the author. Shortly following this visit, forgedletters bearing official letter headings were received by variousindividuals, designed to be a source of inconvenience and embarassmentto the author. The young man who visited the university later appearedin Scientology publications as a graduate of a Saint Hill course."[Footnote: This and similar cases are discussed in Roy Wallis,

`Religious sects and the fear of publicity', New Society (7 June 1973),pp. 545-7.]

---------- John Symonds' THE GREAT BEAST ---------

from Stewart Lamont's _Religion, Inc._, page 20:

The Church of Scientology was successful in obtaining a retraction by_The Sunday Times_ [of London] in 1969 and in winning an action in1971 against the author John Symonds and publishers of _The Great Beast_,a biography of [Aleister] Crowley, which alleged that Hubbard's new religion



was derived from black magic.

--------- John A. Lee's SECTARIAN HEALERS AND HYPNOTHERAPY -------

In 1967, the Committee for the Healing Arts of the Province of Ontariocommissioned John A. Lee to study non-medical healing practices inthat province. The study included Christian Science, Unity,Spiritualism, Christian faith healing, New Thought, Concept-Therapy, a

few self-described "hypnotists" who advertised in the Toronto YellowPages, and various other unlicensed and unconventional healers.

Lee finished his report in December, 1967, and the Committee publishedit with The Queen's Printer in 1970 as the book _Sectarian Healers andHypnotherapy_, by John A. Lee. Lee reported that he received excellentcooperation from most of the groups and individuals he studied. Butwhen he got to Scientology....

The "Church" used the same techniques for dealing with us as itinstructs its members to use against any alleged opponent or apostate,the so-called "Suppressive Persons" techniques...In our casethis involved scurrilous press releases accusing at least one member

of the Committee on the Healing Arts of personal "crimes" and impugningthe motives of the whole Committee. After lengthy consideration theCommittee concluded that further use of its powers of investigationwould not add substantially to information already available(the general drift of which was amply confirmed by the "Church's"tactics) and would merely delay a final report on the matter.

The above quote is from a footnote on page 73.

----- Stewart Lamont's RELIGION INC. -----

John Penycate, a reporter for the BBC's _Panorama_ TV show, reported in

the 30 April 1987 edition of the BBC's magazine _The Listener_ (page 14):

"Last year, though, Stewart Lamont a freelance broadcasterin Scotland, wrote a book on Scientology called _Religion Inc._ Legalaction forestalled both a paperback and an American edition, and peoplepurporting to represent the Midland Bank visited his neighbors inGlasgow, inquiring about his private life. A hired private detectivecontacted his ex-wife seeking damaging information about him."

----- Maurice Burrell's SCIENTOLOGY: WHAT IT IS AND WHAT IT DOES ---

The 19 November 1987 issue of the BBC's magazine _The Listener_ contains,

on page 34, a review of "Bare-Faced Messiah", written by one Martin Fagg.

The review opens:

"The disciples of Lafayette Ron Hubbard are nothing if not litigious.In 1970, I reviewed, for another weekly, _Scientology_ by Maurice C.Burrell...[snip]...

The review appeared--but the book did not, the `Church of Scientology'having meanwhile obtained an injunction inhibiting, or at least delaying,its publication. Shortly thereafter, the editor of the paper received,under a thunderous letterheading, a protest from the movement's



`D/Guardian Legal WW' at its East Grinstead HQ, denouncing the reviewas `extremely defamatory'. The letter was printed in the paper'scorrespondence columns, but no apology was proffered or retractation [sic]made."

---------- BIBLIOGRAPHY ---------

Jon Atack, A Piece of Blue Sky. Carol Publishing, NYC, 1990.

Maurice Burrell, Scientology: What It Is And What It Does.Lakeland, London, 1970.

Paulette Cooper, The Scandal of Scientology. Tower Publications, NYC, 1971Bent Corydon, L. Ron Hubbard: Messiah or Madman? 2nd edition,

Barricade Books, Fort Lee, NJ, 1992.Robert Kaufman, Inside Scientology. Olympia Press, London & NYC, 1972.Stewart Lamont, Religion Inc. Harrap, London, 1986.John A. Lee, Sectarian Healers and Hypnotherapy. The Queen's Printer,

Toronto, 1970.George Malko, Scientology: The Now Religion. Delacourte Press, NYC, 1970Russell Miller, Bare-Faced Messiah. Michael Joseph, London, 1987.John Symonds, The Great Beast: The Life of Aleister Crowley.

Many editions published, 1956-1973.

Cyril Vosper, The Mind Benders. Neville Spearman, London, 1971.Roy Wallis, The Road to Total Freedom. Columbia University Press, NYC, 1977.