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New Human Trafficking Lawsuit

April 28, 2022 By Mike Rinder 34 Comments

You have probably seen by now the news that 3 former children of the Sea Org filed a lawsuit today. Tracey McManus article in the Tampa Bay Times.   Ben Schneiders article in the Sydney Morning Herald This is a copy of the filed Complaint Three powerful law firms are bringing this case, all have experience in big, hard-fought litigation. The complaint goes into extensive detail about what happened to these victims, and also how scientology is organized and operated. The allegations are horrendous -- but are not new and similar things have been stated by many others. … [Read more...]

Filed Under: David Miscavige, Legal Tagged With: David Miscavige, Gawain Baxter, Human trafficking, Laura Baxter, lawsuit, Scientology, Valeska Guider

Scientology “Arbitration”: They make up the rules as they go along

November 20, 2021 By Mike Rinder 22 Comments

  The recent, very disappointing decision from the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals in the Garcia case highlights once again the problem of trying to deal with scientology in the courts: they understand too well how to game the system. The old adage that when the facts are not on your side, argue the law is page 2 of the scientology playbook. Page one is: baffle them with bullshit disguised as "religious practices." Legal decisions are based on precedent: Precedent refers to a court decision that is considered as authority for deciding subsequent cases involving identical or similar … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Legal, Special Feature Tagged With: 11th Circuit, Luis Garcia, Robert Luck, Rocio Garcia, Rosenbaum, scientology arbitrtion, William Pryor

Shameful Scientology “Religious Arbitration” Destroying Justice

May 27, 2021 By Mike Rinder 46 Comments

Anyone who paid attention to the Masterson case Preliminary Hearing last week got a glimpse of the triggering experience of recounting a rape for the victims. After hearing their testimony, Judge Olmedo ordered that Danny Masterson to stand trial for rape. The role of scientology in the matter was not lost on her. Which makes the order of Judge Kleifield in the civil court virtually next door even more egregious. The same women who testified as victims in the criminal case are also plaintiffs in a civil suit. Their civil case was filed before the criminal charges were announced, when … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Danny Masterson, Legal, Special Feature Tagged With: arbitration, Danny Masterson, DJ Donkey Punch, Gretchen Carlson, Judge Kleifield, Judge Olmeda, Kangaroo Court, rape, religious arbitration

The Crime of the Century

May 15, 2021 By Mike Rinder 13 Comments

  Alex Gibney has done it again. This is a disturbing, powerful documentary that everyone in the country should watch. It details how the opioid epidemic was manufactured out of the greed of the pharmaceutical industry (all the way down to CVS). It is truly a horrifying expose.   But for scientology-watchers there is a special reason for giving this a look. It shows how those with money to burn are able to buy influence over law enforcement and legislators. It is grotesque, and it is exactly what scientology has done to head off investigations in the … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Legal, Scientology Tagged With: Alex Gibney, Civil Rights Division, Crime of the Century, FBI, HBO, Karin Pouw, Mary Carter Andrues, The Social Dilemma, US Attorneys

House Judiciary Committee Submission of Chrissie Carnell-Bixler and Valerie Haney

February 11, 2021 By Mike Rinder 36 Comments

These are submissions to the House Judiciary Committee from rape victim Chrissie Carnell-Bixler and abuse victim Valeria Haney. As any readers of this blog know, the fight for justice for the victims of Danny Masterson has been long and painful. He finally confronts the criminal justice system, but the victims also filed civil suits before the criminal charges were finally brought. Scientology has managed to convince judge Steven Kleifield in this case (and Judge Burdge in the Valerie Haney case) that the victims are forbidden to have their day in court, but instead must undergo a … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Legal Tagged With: arbitration, Chrissie Carnell-Bixler, Danny Masterson, House Judiciary Committee, Judge Burdge, Judge Kleifield, rape, religious arbitration, Valerie Haney

More on Scientology “Religious Arbitration”

January 23, 2021 By Mike Rinder 23 Comments

Anyone who regularly reads this blog will know that I have been scathing in my criticism of recent court rulings concerning the supposed scientology "religious arbitration" agreements that courts have enforced to prevent plaintiffs from pursuing legal recourse against scientology entities. See earlier articles: Scientology "Religious Arbitration" -- Giving Kangaroo Courts a Bad Name and this one: Concerning Scientology "Religious Arbitration." Now comes an article from the Reason.com website which is rather more scholarly than my layman's analysis. A leading expert on religious arbitration … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Legal, Special Feature Tagged With: Legal, litigation, Luis Garcia, Masterson, Michael Helfand, Pepperdine, reason.com, religious arbitration

Scientology “Religious Arbitration” – Giving Kangaroo Courts a Bad Name

January 9, 2021 By Mike Rinder 42 Comments

Recently, one of the OSA bots on Twitter announced that the Judge in the Masterson civil case had "found me to be a liar" in the case "I lost." This is their twisted interpretation of the following statement by Judge Steven Kliefield in his ruling that the Masterson plaintiffs must submit to religious "arbitration," (see Tony Ortega's site for the full order): Defendants argue the Court should disregard the March 6, 2020 declaration because Rinder is biased, dedicated to falsely attacking the Church and has no foundation for much of his testimony. CSI and CCI also make specific objections … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Legal, Special Feature Tagged With: Judge Kliefield, Masterson, religious arbitration, Scientology

Religious Protections Run Amok

August 6, 2020 By Mike Rinder 31 Comments

This is a thought-provoking, and somewhat alarming article by Professor Marci Hamilton, Founder and CEO of Child USA Marci appeared on The Aftermath and was part of the team who filed the civil lawsuits on behalf of the Masterson victims and Valerie Haney. She is one of the country's foremost experts on First Amendment Law as it relates to religion. Marci eloquently and persuasively highlights something I have often said, conservative Supreme Court justices are overly zealous in their efforts to protect religions, and the umbrellas they establish allows scientology to get away with … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Legal Tagged With: Child USA, First Amendment, irs, Marci Hamilton, Supreme Court, Tax Exemption, Title VII

Sanity or Anarchy?

July 25, 2020 By Mike Rinder 40 Comments

Anyone who almost sheds a tear when studying Introduction to Scientology Ethics is either completely delusional or more likely has been abused with the application of this "tech" and the memories are so raw they bring tears. Let's take a look at some of the "incredibly sane" stuff in this book? For example, here are some of the specific "Crimes" and "High Crimes" that are listed. These are things for which you can be declared Suppressive: These are what passes for the most sane ethics and justice system ever invented. Don’t testify or use the court system or cooperate with … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Ethics, L Ron Hubbard, Legal Tagged With: Disconnection, FBI, ITSE, Law Enforcement, Scientology Ethics, SPs

Concerning Scientology “Religious Arbitration”

January 30, 2020 By Mike Rinder 86 Comments

Many readers here also follow Tony Ortega's blog and will therefore know that at a court hearing in Los Angeles this morning, LA Superior Court Judge Richard Burdge Jr. agreed with scientology that Valerie Haney has no right to a trial before a jury of her peers, but instead must submit to scientology "religious arbitration." I have no other information or insight into this hearing than what is available on Ortega's site. But I do have information of relevance and opinions to offer on the subject. Judge Burdge is not the first to fall for the scientology ruse, and I am sure that once … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Legal, Special Feature Tagged With: International Justice Chief, Judge Burdge, Judge Whittemore, LA Superior Court, Scientology, scientology arbitration, Valerie Haney

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Important Reading

Troublemaker - Leah Remini
Ruthless - Ron Miscavige
Going Clear - Lawrence Wright
Bare Faced Messiah - Russell Miller
Counterfeit Dreams - Jeff Hawkins
Blown For Good - Marc Headley
Abuse at the Top - Amy Scobee
Unbreakable Miss Lovely - Tony Ortega
The Church of Fear - John Sweeney
Fair Game - Steve Cannane
Inside Scientology - Janet Reitman
A Piece of Blue Sky - Jon Atack
Beyond Belief - Jenna Miscavige
My Billion Year Contract
Escaping Scientology - Karen Schless
Commodore's Messenger - Janis Grady
Commodore's Messenger - Book II
Scythe Tleppo - Nathan Rich
Expert Witness - Jesse Prince
Perfectly Clear - Michelle LeCaire
Ron the War Hero - Chris Owen
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LeahReminiLeah Remini@LeahRemini·
26 May

The problem isn’t the doors @tedcruz

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Cruz: Have one door… and have that one door, armed police officers at that door. If that had happened.. when that psychopath had arrived, the armed police officers could’ve taken him out…

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CHILD_USACHILD USA@CHILD_USA·
23h

This is the country that never ratified the U.N. Convention for the Rights of the Child, which is shameful.

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CHILD_USACHILD USA@CHILD_USA·
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The time has come for elected officials to pass legislation to actually protect our children from senseless gun violence. All of us failed them by letting politics and lobbyist dollars take precedence over safety.

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CHILD_USACHILD USA@CHILD_USA·
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CHILD USA mourns the loss of 19 children and two of their teachers. It is time for all of us to unite so this never happens again. We stand for laws that protect children's safety from violence including common sense gun reform.

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MikeRinderMike Rinder@MikeRinder·
20 May

For those missing the #FairGame podcast -- I snuck in a 20 min chat with @Marci_Hamilton about our shared passion for the work of @CHILD_USA

CHILD USA@CHILD_USA

Our newest podcast episode is here!

Emmy Award winning CHILD USA Board member Mike Rinder joins Prof. Marci Hamilton to discuss his advocacy on our issues.

Don't miss this episode from one of the brightest stars in the CHILD USA universe.

Listen today: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/mike-rinder-on-his-work-as-a-child-usa-board-member/id1524535228?i=1000562604652

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Recent Comments

  • Alcoboy on Regraded Being: “Why? When it comes to Scientology, that’s just business as usual.” May 27, 12:19
  • Alcoboy on Regraded Being: “To: Alabamaslammer From: David Miscavige COB RTC Re: criticizing the royal family. HOW DARE YOU SPEAK NEGATIVELY ABOUT A MONARCH…” May 27, 12:18
  • Jere Lull on Regraded Being: “If you think what happened in the past was astounding, wait a bit. It gets WORSE the more you find…” May 27, 12:11
  • Jere Lull on Regraded Being: “There’s ONE way out of that crushing debt load for scns: It’s called the Sea Org, and you won’t have…” May 27, 12:07
  • Lily R on Through the Bubble – Lili’s Adventures in Scientologyland Part 12: “Fred, I appreciate you pulling back the curtain on that “ignore the noise” advice you got from your OSA exec.…” May 27, 11:29
  • Cindy on Thursday Funnies: “Well said!” May 27, 10:32
  • Real on Thursday Funnies: “EMA Artist USA is an online based company touting social media prowess and it doesn’t have its own email address????…” May 27, 10:01
  • Real on Stories About Ron — More News: “yes, I saw a video taken a couple months ago on a Friday from around 6 to 7 p.m. and…” May 27, 09:45
  • Alabamaslammer on Regraded Being: “Rick and Tracy were probably inspired to go all in with Scientology after seeing the royal family embrace that little…” May 27, 09:41
  • otherles on Regraded Being: “I continue to astounded by what goes on in the bubble.” May 27, 09:04

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