Legal Issues Scientology Opposing Views

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Top: Society: Religion_and_Spirituality: Opposing_Views: Scientology: Legal_Issues:

• - A copy of the declaration filed by Steven Fishman in Church of Scientology International v. Fishman and Geertz. OT2 and 3 are bowdlerized to comply with Dutch law.
  
• - Federal appeals court upholds earlier ruling that the Church of Scientology failed to show malice on the part of journalist Richard Behar, author of the Time magazine exposé "Scientology: The Cult of Greed." [New York Law Journal]
  
• - Ten years after Time magazine ran an award-winning article portraying the Church of Scientology as a "ruthless global scam," the Supreme Court refused to consider reinstating the church's libel case. [Associated Press]
  
• - Jonathan Rosenoer reviews the defense's arguments in Religious Technology Center v. Netcom. The ISP sought to dismiss the preliminary injunction against it by pointing out that the unprecedented extension of copyright sought by Scientology would expose e
  
• - A German federal court has been hearing a case which could decide if restrictions on the Church of Scientology in Germany are legal. [BBC News]
  
• - Trial of a critic of Scientology on a misdemeanor charge ends in a hung jury due to worries that he was set up by the Church of Scientology. The prosecutors then dropped the charges. [St. Petersburg Times]
  
• - Bilingual (Swedish-English) site about Zenon Panoussis and his skirmishes with the Church of Scientology. The story is told through archived posts from alt.religion.scientology and European press coverage of the saga.
  
• - A selection of publicly-available legal documents filed in U.S. District Court, Central District of California.
  
• - Readers discuss the verdict of the Swedish High Court, which upheld a lower court's ruling that Zenon Panoussis had infringed Scientology's copyright. Includes comments from Arnie Lerma and Karin Spaink. [Slashdot]
  
• - One father's struggle with the courts and the Church of Scientology over his daughter.
  
• - A French government committee recommends dissolving the Church of Scientology on the grounds that its activities threaten public order. [BBC News]
  
• - Circuit court judge says that the Clearwater police "are coming very dangerously close to becoming a private security force for the Church of Scientology." Scientology spokesman paints all critics as criminals. [St. Petersburg Times]
  
• - A judge gives the church a delay so it can fight for the privacy of a practice it compares to confession. [St. Petersburg Times]
  
• - Day-by-day reports on the appeal case in Stockholm in January 2001. Zenon Panoussis was sued by the Church of Scientology for posting the Fishman Affidavit and the NOTs online.
  
• - The trial has ended in the French city of Marseille of seven members of the Church of Scientology accused of fraud. [BBC News]
  
• - Colleagues of State Attorney Bernie McCabe say charging the church, not the members, and deciding against a manslaughter charge walks the line between acting too harshly and too weakly. [St. Petersburg Times]
  
• - A French court fined the Church of Scientology for violating the privacy rights of former members, although prosecutors failed to convict on other charges. [Voice of America News]
  
• - Scientology leaders say they want peace. They say they want to stay out of court. But with both foes at home and foes abroad, that goal may be elusive. [St. Petersburg Times]
  
• - Germany and the United States are to discuss their disagreements over the Church of Scientology. [BBC News]
  
• - Marseilles court has convicted five members of the Church of Scientology of fraud for extorting large payments from vulnerable members for dubious cures. [BBC News]
  
• - A federal court in Germany has failed to reach a verdict on the legal status of Scientology -- after years of international debate. [BBC News].
  
• - Editorial says that it is unlikely that off-duty uniformed Clearwater police officers paid by the Church of Scientology could remain objective when incidents occur between the church and protesters. [St. Petersburg Times]
  
• - Information on the civil suit for wrongful death, filed on behalf of the estate of Lisa McPherson, who died in the custody of the Church of Scientology.
  
• - A federal court in Germany has failed to reach a verdict on whether or not Scientology can be considered a religion. [BBC News]
  
• - Colorado nonprofit group FACTNet has won a critical round in a legal fight against the Church of Scientology, raising questions about whether Scientology has a legal right to keep hundreds of documents offline and out of the public eye. [CNET News.com]
  
• - Public prosecutor accuses the Church of Scientology with "mental manipulation." The sect is on trial for false advertising and attempted fraud. [BBC News]
  
• - A French prosecutor has asked a court in Marseille to jail a former leader of the Church of Scientology who has been accused of obtaining large sums of money by fraud from other members of the Church. [BBC News]
  
• - Collection of judicial rulings, court pleadings and other legal documentation from Scientology-related litigation, 1995-March 1997.
  
• - Seven members of the Church of Scientology have gone on trial in France on charges of fraud. [BBC News]
  
• - The French Justice Minister says she is prepared to consider banning the Church of Scientology, considered a cult--not a religion--in France. [BBC News]
  
• - Affidavit of Hana Whitfield. The story of an ex member.