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Where is Scientology keeping Samantha Sterne?

In the fall of 2012, Mary Jane Sterne couldn’t have been any prouder. Her daughter, Samantha Paige Sterne, was beginning her first semester as a freshman at the University of Oregon. Samantha’s older sister Brittaney — Mary Jane’s daughter from a previous marriage — was on hand, and so was her ex-husband Chuck Sterne, Samantha’s []

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60 years ago and today: Scientology in its heyday, and now not so much

Ah, 1954, the days of wine and word salad. Our source has come through with another “quote video” that you normally can only see inside a Scientology “org.” In this case, it’s a segment of an L. Ron Hubbard lecture from the “Phoenix Lectures” of 1954, and it’s meant to encourage members to pay $350 []

OY VEY: Scientology invokes Jewish Law to answer lawsuit by attorney Vance Woodward

In March, the Church of Scientology was sued by former member Vance Woodward, an attorney in the Los Angeles area. Readers at the Underground Bunker were familiar with Vance — he helped us do a comprehensive and fun series, reading L. Ron Hubbard’s essential text, Dianetics, cover to cover. Over his 22-year career in the []

Federal judge again declines to intervene for Ken Dandar, but leaves a door open

Judge Virginia M. Hernandez Covington

Once again, Federal District Judge Virginia M. Hernandez Covington has declined to intervene on behalf of Florida attorney Ken Dandar after he was hit by a $1 million judgment in state court awarded to the Church of Scientology.

Dandar had alleged that the $1 million judgment would not only ruin []

Ryan Hamilton files lawsuit number eleven against Scientology’s drug rehab network

Ryan Hamilton

Las Vegas attorney Ryan Hamilton isn’t slowing down. He’s filed another federal fraud lawsuit against Scientology’s drug rehab facility in Nevada — Rainbow Canyon Retreat in the remote town of Caliente — bringing to eleven the suits he’s filed in recent months against similar centers in California and Colorado.

Once again, the details []

Sunday Funnies: Scientology’s latest attempts to get you amped up!

Our thanks to the night crew for live-blogging our appearance last night on Above Top Secret radio. We appreciated the kind words, and had a blast doing the show. They tell us an archived streaming copy should be posted by mid-week.

And now, it’s that time of the week when we reveal the Scientology mailers and []

Apparent suicide of witness to a mysterious Scientology drug rehab death

 This is a strange one, folks.

For a couple of years, we’ve been telling you that Scientology’s drug rehab network, Narconon, has been in real trouble, particularly after the deaths of three patients at its flagship facility in Oklahoma over a nine-month period. Gabriel Graves, Hillary Holten, and Stacy Dawn Murphy each died at Narconon Arrowhead []

Three videos the Church of Scientology would rather you not watch

Our video sources came through again this Friday, and we have a collection of fun things to watch.

First up, we have another “quote video” that you normally can’t see outside of a Scientology ‘org.’ It dramatizes a segment from L. Ron Hubbard’s 1957 “Freedom Congress,” and the video’s intention is to get you to shell []

Hey, IRS: Stunning photos inside the lavish personal offices of Scientology’s leader

In 1978, the Church of Scientology paid $2.7 million to acquire a fading resort in the California desert known as Gilman Hot Springs. The 550-acre parcel included a relatively modest house named “Bonnie View” that founder L. Ron Hubbard intended to live in, once it was renovated. But he never got the chance. By the []

Scientology’s drug rehab system hit with tenth federal fraud lawsuit by Las Vegas attorney

Las Vegas attorney Ryan Hamilton has filed his tenth federal fraud lawsuit against Scientology’s drug rehab network, Narconon. Filed in Nevada, the lawsuit alleges that the Scientology rehab center in that state, Rainbow Canyon Retreat, promised effective drug counseling delivered by licensed medical personnel, and instead delivered Scientology training from former []