Church of Scientology International v. Fishman and Geertz

A selection of publicly-available legal documents filed in U.S. District Court, Central District of California.

The Thriving Cult of Greed and Power: click here for larger image

Read This First:

Who is Steven Fishman?
Richard Behar's article in TIME led to the lawsuit that is the subject of this web site.
Behar's earlier article in Forbes revealed many of Scientology's bizarre practices.
What happened to Richard Behar and other reporters?
Where did the Fishman documents come from?
Scientology's lawsuit against TIME is dismissed!
What's new at this site?

New Page: Secrets of Scientology

Click here to learn some of the technical secrets of Scientology, such as thought control techniques and an overpriced lie detector called the E-meter.

The Fishman Papers

The infamous "Fishman Declaration", containing (as exhibits) the secret scriptures of Scientology: the OT materials. OT I through OT VII are once again included, via links to a Karin Spaink's site in Amsterdam. Also on this page are links to some of the affidavits filed in the Fishman case.

Unseal Fishman: Write to the Judge

Now that the trade secret status of the OT materials has been lost (decisions of federal judges Kane and Brinkema in the Wollersheim and Lerma cases), there is no reason for the Fishman Declaration to remain sealed. Write an amicus curiae (friend of the court) letter to Judge Hupp and ask him to unseal the court file:

    Judge Harry L. Hupp
    United States District Court
    Central District of California
    312 North Spring Street
    Los Angeles, California  90012

    Re:  Church of Scientology v. Steven Fishman and Uwe Geertz
    Case Number 91-6426-HLH(Tx)

The ClamBed: Where to Find the Fishman Documents

Welcome to the Clam Bed. This is a page of links to other sites where the OT materials may be found. Over 100 at present. Also contains a "morgue": links that were killed by the Church.

The Fishman and Anti-Fishman Home Pages

The Real Steven Fishman Home Page at XS4ALL in Amsterdam.
Scientology's anti-Fishman page, a hilarious attempt by the Church to distance itself from Fishman while simultaneously smearing him. (Tough to do, since he's openly confessed his crimes.) By the way, ``intraoceanic biodegradable foodstuffs'' are fish!
Fishman's demands from Scientology

The Fight Over the OT Materials

Scientology price list reveal true cost of the Fishman documents. The Ninth Circuit Court's 1994 order remanding the decision on whether to seal the Fishman declaration back to the lower court. An order form to obtain a copy of the Fishman OT filings by mail for $36.50. The lower court's temporary seal order for the Fishman file, issued August 15 1995, and Church lawyer Helena Kobrin's announcement about it. A lawsuit announced against the Washington Post for obtaining and quoting from the Fishman declaration.

The Raids on Arnie Lerma and FACTNet

Arnie Lerma posted the Fishman Declaration to alt.religion.scientology. For his troubles, his house was raided by agents of the Church of Scientology, accompanied by US marshals. The following week, Larry Wollersheim and Bob Penny, the individuals behind FACTNet , were raided.

Attacks on This Web Site

Article in FOCUS on the Fishman web site at Carnegie Mellon and alt.religion.scientology
Email message from Church lawyer Helena Kobrin threatening legal action
Announcement that OT materials have been removed from this site, and why
The original web site announcements
Forged cancels for the web site announcements
Forged cancel for a message quoting the URL of the web site
Another email message from Helena Kobrin, which was ignored.
Attempt to intimidate me "under color of law" with a specious reference to a temporary restraining order obtained against Grady Ward. This message was also ignored.
The Church tries to investigate me by demanding that Grady Ward turn over copies of all correspondence between him and me.

Scientology Fun Page

Humor. Mischief. Theological analysis. And the OT III quiz, levels 1 and 2.

The Two Documents Most Lethal to the Church

These two items are far more damaging than the Fishman Declaration. Read them and you'll know precisely how the Church works. Wakefield's book is touching. Penny's is downright dangerous.

Margery Wakefield's The Road to Xenu, now in improved HTML format, is a powerfully moving story of one woman's initiation into the cult's practices and spiritual secrets. This semi-fictionalized account is based on Wakefield's actual experience and that of others she knew in the cult. It gives a comprehensive look at Scientology's training regimen and life inside the elite inner circle, the Sea Org. When Wakefield finally learned the OT III story of Xenu and the body thetans, she realized that Scientology was nonsense. Postscript version here.
Bob Penny's Social Control in Scientology, now in improved HTML format, explains with great clarity how the cult's subtle, progressive brainwashing techniques operate. Normal intelligent people are not immune. Do not step foot in a Scientology org until you have read this book; it's the best protection there is. Postscript version here.

Best Sources of Additional Information

Ron Newman's The Church of Scientology vs. the Net and Jim Lippard and Jeff Jacobsen's Scientology v. the Internet both cover the war between the Church and the Internet. Includes forged cancels, lawsuits against ISPs, the raids against Dennis Erlich, Arnie Lerma, and FACTNet, and more.
Jon Atack's The Total Freedom Trap is a good overview of the shady history of Hubbard, Dianetics, and Scientology. And here are more writings by Jon Atack.
CNN web pages on Scientology legal actions contain pictures of some of the players and pointers to Lexis-Nexis article database.
Maureen Garde's Judicial Opinions page contains court decisions concerning several fights over the OT materials.
Tilman Hausherr's Testimonies of Scientologists and Critics offers telling personal stories from former cult members.
The Electronic Frontier Foundation: CoS_v_the_Net has the legal documents in the CoS v. Dennnis Erlich case.
The Scandal of Scientology by Paulette Cooper -- a book the Church tried desperately to suppress.
Newsgroup alt.religion.scientology -- Entheta? You're soaking in it.

Groups That Combat Religious Cults

The American Family Foundation (AFF) currently operates the best web site on cult-related topics. FACTNet (Fight Against Coercive Tactics Network) was raided by the Church in August, 1995; all its files and computers were seized. They are back on the air now, preparing their defense. FACTNet maintains a huge electronic library of cult documents. These were archived at other sites in anticipation of the raid. CAN (the Cult Awareness Network) has also played an important role in combatting the Church, and has been repeatedly attacked by it. It was finally driven into bankruptcy in 1996.

American Family Foundation
FACTNet Home Page. History of their battle with Scientology. How to join their mailing list. How to contribute to the defense fund. And more.

Church of Scientology's Web Sites

David S. Touretzky

Computer Science Department & Center for the Neural Basis of Cognition

Carnegie Mellon University

Pittsburgh, PA 15213-3890

dst+@cs.cmu.edu