Joseph Yanny represented the movement until a falling out. Now he says lengthy litigation and mysterious harassment indicate he's become 'Public Enemy No. 1.' Los Angeles attorney Joseph Yanny was driving through rural Ohio in the pre-dawn hours in 1988 when he was pulled over by police, who had received a tip that he was carrying a cache of cocaine and guns in his rental car. A telephone caller had supplied authorities in Ohio with Yanny's name, the car's description and ...

Among its many adversaries, the Church of Scientology's longest-running feud has been with the Internal Revenue Service. So far, neither combatant has blinked. Over the past three decades, the IRS has revoked the tax-exempt status of various Scientology organizations, accusing them of operating in a commercial manner and of financially benefiting private individuals. From the late 1960s through mid-1970s, IRS agents classified Scientology as a "tax resister" and "subversive," a characterization later deemed improper by a judge. In 1984, the IRS's ...

"Never treat a war like a skirmish. Treat all skirmishes like wars." —L. Ron Hubbard The Church of Scientology does not turn the other cheek. Ministers mingle with private detectives. "Sacred scriptures" counsel the virtues of combativeness. Parishioners double as paralegals for litigious church attorneys. Consider the passage that a prominent Scientology minister selected from the religion's scriptures, authored by the late L. Ron Hubbard, to inspire the faithful during a gala church event. "People attack Scientology," the minister quoted Hubbard ...

Emerging from years of internal strife and public scandal, the Scientology movement has embarked on a sweeping and sophisticated campaign to gain new influence in America. The goal is to refurbish the tarnished image of Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard and elevate him to the ranks of history's great humanitarians and thinkers. By so doing, the church hopes to broaden the acceptability of Hubbard's Scientology teachings and attract millions of new members. The campaign relies on official church programs and a ...

Behind the religious trappings, the Church of Scientology is run like a lean, no-nonsense business in which potential members are called "prospects," "raw meat" and "bodies in the shop." Its governing financial policy, written by the late Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard, is simple and direct: "MAKE MONEY, MAKE MORE MONEY, MAKE OTHERS PRODUCE SO AS TO MAKE MONEY." The organization uses sophisticated sales tactics to sell a seemingly endless progression of expensive courses, each serving as a prerequisite for the ...

The Scientology Story. Today: The Making of L. Ron Hubbard. First in a six-part series. The Times today begins a six-part series on the Church of Scientology, the controversial religion founded by the late author L. Ron Hubbard. Since its creation nearly four decades ago, Scientology has grown into a worldwide movement that, in recent months, has spent millions of dollars promoting its founder and his self-help book, "Dianetics: The Modern Science of Mental Health." In the past five years alone, ...

Deep in hiding, Hubbard kept tight grip on the church. Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard often said that man's most basic drive is that of survival. And when it came to his own, he used whatever was necessary — false identities, cover stories, deception. There is no better illustration of this than the way he secretly controlled the Church of Scientology while hiding from a world he viewed as increasingly hostile. Hubbard was last seen publicly in February 1980, in the ...

NEW YORK — An upcoming critical biography of L. Ron Hubbard, author and founder of the Church of Scientology, may be published in its original form, a federal appeals court ruled. The 2nd us. Circuit Court of Appeals reversed a lower court's ruling in February for New Era Publications International, exclusive licensee of Hubbard's works, which had filed a copyright infringement lawsuit. Hubbard died in 1986. The appeals court held Thursday the book's quotations from Hubbard's published works, which amount to ...

A Federal appeals court has ruled that a publisher is not required to delete material from a coming biography of L. Ron Hubbard, founder of the Church of Scientology. The ruling, issued Thursday, overturned a lower court's decision, and barring the unlikely chance of a rehearing or a quick reversal by the Supreme Court, the biography will be published in its original form next month. Michael Lee Hertzberg, who argued the case against the publisher, said the plaintiff had not decided ...

[...] COPYRIGHTED WRITINGS can be used in critical biography, court rules. A federal appeals court in New York reversed a lower court ruling that appeared to signify tighter restrictions on the use of copyrighted materials by authors and journalists. The appeals court ruled that Carol Publishing Group's critical biography of L. Ron Hubbard, founder of the Church of Scientology, doesn't violate federal law by including copyrighted quotations from Mr. Hubbard's published writings. The plaintiff was New Era Publications International, a Copenhagen ...

The C.A. 2nd has upheld dismissal of a complaint filed by former members of the Church of Scientology that was based on allegations of fraud, disclosure of confidential confessions and the diversion of church funds. Six individuals, a nonprofit organization, and a 400-member class sued 14 individuals, six nonprofit organizations, two corporations and five other entities for fraud, breach of fiduciary duty, and injunctive relief. The claims were based on allegations that the plaintiffs had been induced to join the Church ...

The Church of Scientology's genesis was the 1950 best seller by L. Ron Hubbard, "Dianetics: The Modern Science of Mental Health." Church officials claim there are 7 million Scientologists worldwide, but former members allege there may be fewer than 100,000. The church promotes Scientology as a religion — one not based on the worship of a god but on the belief in "scientific" principles applied to the mind. Hubbard argued in "Dianetics" that inner turmoil springs from subconscious mental images, or ...

The San Diego Union first asked for an interview with Bridge Publications in December 1989. The request was referred to the L. Ron Hubbard Office of Public Relations, a Church of Scientology organization in Los Angeles. Several times throughout January, Union reporter Mike McIntyre contacted the L Ron Hubbard Office of Public Relations to request an interview with Bridge personnel. Each time, L. Ron Hubbard spokeswoman Sharyn Runyon said that a decision had not been made. Runyon later asked McIntyre to ...

Former employees of EST founder Werner Erhard say they were forced to obey the pop psychology guru in a manner akin to God and to submit themselves to numerous instances of verbally and physically abusive behavior. In sworn statements, the ex-employees also charge that they were required to worship Erhard as the Source and were controlled with exhausting work schedules, loyalty oaths, threats and emotional abuse. The allegations – by five former staff members of est, of the Forum and of ...

Imagine that a biographer is rummaging through an old trunk. He discovers a previously unseen letter from George Washington to Martha. He unfolds the brittle pages. "Martha, I must tell you, I was fibbing when I said, 'I cannot tell a lie.' " When that hypothetical biography is published, will you, the book buyer, get to read the Founding Father's confession? Hard to say. Last month the Supreme Court refused to review an appeals court ruling that copyright law strictly limits ...