Las Vegas attorney Ryan Hamilton is back filing lawsuits against Scientology’s drug rehab network, Narconon. We’ve watched as he’s filed cases in California, Nevada, Louisiana, Florida, and now another case in Colorado.
Hamilton had taken a pause for a while as he attempted to consolidate his cases in a single Nevada federal court. But after that attempt failed, he appears to be ramping up his filings again.
In this new action, Thomas Ferrara Sr. and Jr, of Ohio, are suing Narconon Fresh Start’s “A Life Worth Saving” facility in Fort Collins, Colorado. They’re also suing Scientology umbrella groups ABLE, Narconon International and Narconon West US.
On June 15, 2013, Thomas Sr. went looking for a rehab center for his son. He got the usual pitch from Dan Carmichael of Narconon Fresh Start — that its sauna program had a 76 percent success rate at flushing out drugs and reducing drug cravings.
The Ferraras were told the program was secular and involved “cognitive behavior modification therapy.”
Instead, Narconon facilities offer Scientology training rather than drug counseling, and Hamilton once again submits a thoroughly detailed and meticulously sourced description of what actually goes on at Narconon clinics and how much they are controlled by Scientology, provide Scientology indoctrination, and recruit new members into the organization. (Hey, Frederick County councilors, how about reading one of Hamilton’s complaints? You might learn something.)
The Ferraras paid $33,000 for the program, but Thomas Jr “became ill” and suffered “embarrassing injuries” that he continues to deal with, the complaint says.
“Thomas Jr. also suffered emotional damages as a result of the strange methods Defendants used to treat his substance abuse.”
Here’s the complaint…
Ferrara vs Narconon: Complaint
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Paulette Cooper’s story in photographs
We didn’t get a chance to include photos in our book, The Unbreakable Miss Lovely, so we’re posting them here at the Underground Bunker. We’ve created a dedicated page for them, and we hope you go through them all, then come back here and tell us your thoughts!
(Photo: Paulette and her adoptive father, Ted Cooper. From Paulette’s personal collection.)
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Claire on the air, and Lori and Mary Jane too
At 9:35 Eastern this morning, Claire Headley will appear on WOCA-AM 1370 in Florida to talk about Scientology, ‘Going Clear,’ and Disconnection.
Lori Hodgson will be on “America’s Talk Radio Network” at 8:20 am Eastern.
And Mary Jane Sterne will appear on the Bev Smith Show at 7:15 pm Eastern.
Gosh, these women rock.
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Bonus photos from our tipsters
The book gets around…
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BOOK NOTES
TODAY: We’ll be in studio at 5 pm with Jillian Barberie and John Phillips at TalkRadio 790 KABC to talk about the book. They’ve had us on the show a couple of times by phone in the past, but we’re looking forward to talking Scientology with them in person. Tune in!
But first, we hope you can listen in as we’re being interviewed about Miss Lovely on Irish radio at 10 am Eastern. We’re told that we’ll be on with Sean Moncrieff at NewsTalk 106-108 FM. Hey, Pete Griffiths, let us know how we do!
Copies of the paperback version of ‘The Unbreakable Miss Lovely’ are on sale at Amazon. The Kindle edition is also available, and shipping instantly. Isn’t technology cool.
Our appearances…
May 16: Santa Barbara Humanist Society (with Paulette Cooper) $2 for members, $5 for non-members. Here’s the schedule we’ve been given for this event…
2:30 people start arriving to socialize on the patio.
3:00 Meeting begins. President says a few words, makes announcements and then the speakers are introduced.
4:15 Move to patio while the room is set up for dinner. Wine bar. Time for book sales.
5:00 Buffet dinner.
Hey, these folks go all out. We hope some of our readers can make it. We’ll have copies of the book to sell for a discounted price, and we’ll be signing them at the event.
May 17: Center for Inquiry-West, Los Angeles, 4773 Hollywood Blvd, Hollywood, 11 am (with Paulette Cooper)
May 17: CFI Orange County (Costa Mesa), 4:30 pm (with Paulette Cooper) Check out this story about us from OC Weekly about this event.
May 20, San Diego: Kennedy Community Center, El Cajon, 7 pm, sponsored by the San Diego Association for Rational Inquiry (with Paulette Cooper) Hey, San Diego readers, help us get the word out on this late addition to our tour!
May 22: San Francisco (with Jamie DeWolf and Paulette Cooper) THIS EVENT IS SOLD OUT. Aye, Chihuahua.
June 11: New York City (with Paulette Cooper) We’re keeping the venue on the down-low at this point. If you’re interested in coming to this unique event — Paulette in New York talking about Scientology where her story began — drop us a line so we get an idea how many are coming.
June 20: Chicago, The Annoyance Theater, 5pm (with Christian Stolte) This event is free, but reserve your tickets now!
June 22 and 23: Toronto (with Paulette Cooper)
June 27/28: Florida (with Paulette Cooper)
July 12: Washington DC, Center for Inquiry
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Posted by Tony Ortega on May 15, 2015 at 07:00
E-mail your tips and story ideas to tonyo94@gmail.com or follow us on Twitter. We post behind-the-scenes updates at our Facebook author page. Here at the Bunker we try to have a post up every morning at 7 AM Eastern (Noon GMT), and on some days we post an afternoon story at around 2 PM. After every new story we send out an alert to our e-mail list and our FB page.
Learn about Scientology with our numerous series with experts…
BLOGGING DIANETICS: We read Scientology’s founding text cover to cover with the help of LA attorney and former church member Vance Woodward
UP THE BRIDGE: Claire Headley and Bruce Hines train us as Scientologists
GETTING OUR ETHICS IN: Jefferson Hawkins explains Scientology’s system of justice
SCIENTOLOGY MYTHBUSTING: Historian Jon Atack discusses key Scientology concepts
PZ Myers reads L. Ron Hubbard’s “A History of Man” | Scientology’s Master Spies | Scientology’s Private Dancer
The mystery of the richest Scientologist and his wayward sons | Scientology’s shocking mistreatment of the mentally ill
The Underground Bunker’s Official Theme Song | The Underground Bunker FAQ
Our Guide to Alex Gibney’s film ‘Going Clear,’ and our pages about its principal figures…
Jason Beghe | Tom DeVocht | Sara Goldberg | Paul Haggis | Mark “Marty” Rathbun | Mike Rinder | Spanky Taylor | Hana Whitfield
