While we wait to see how the California State Supreme Court rules on a couple of matters that are pending before it, the Danny Masterson accusers have seized the moment to remind the justices what’s at stake.
The Masterson accusers who are suing the That ’70s Show actor and the Church of Scientology — Chrissie Carnell Bixler (with her husband, rocker Cedric Bixler-Zavala), Bobette Riales, and two women going by the names Jane Doe 1 and Jane Doe 2 — won a stunning appellate victory in January after the state supreme court decided to take the unusual step of intervening in their case.
Their lawsuit had been derailed by a motion from Scientology that argued the former Scientologists had no right to sue the church after they had signed service contracts obliging them to take any grievances to Scientology’s own “religious arbitration” and not a court of law. But after the state supreme court stepped in, an appellate court ruled that the Masterson accusers should not be held to the contracts since the harm they were alleging — that Scientology had orchestrated a campaign of stalking and harassment since they came forward with rape allegations against Masterson — occurred after they had left the church. They had a right to leave a religion, the court ruled, and so they should not be held to “ecclesiastical” justice procedures since the poisoning of their pets and other things they were alleging happened years after they were no longer Scientologists.
Valerie Haney’s own lawsuit against Scientology, which was also filed in 2019 and also alleged a campaign of “Fair Game” harassment by Scientology, was also derailed by a similar arbitration motion. After the January appellate victory in the Bixler case, Valerie asked Judge Richard Burdge to reconsider his ruling. Scientology’s attorneys argued, however, that the Bixler appellate victory had not been formally published and so it shouldn’t be considered law. Judge Burdge agreed and denied Valerie’s motion for reconsideration on March 15.
While that was going on, the Masterson accusers and attorney Ford Greene were asking the state supreme court to formally publish the Bixler ruling, which is opposed by Scientology.
We’re waiting to see what the state supreme court decides about publishing the ruling, and we’re also waiting to see how it’s going to respond to Scientology’s petition for review of the ruling.
And while we’re waiting, the Masterson accusers have taken the opportunity to submit a letter to the court, pointing out how someone like Valerie could be damaged as long as the ruling remains unpublished.
We don’t know if that will sway the court, but it’s pretty inspiring to see these litigants, who, like Valerie, allege they are victims of the abuses of Scientology, sticking up for each other. Wow.
Read the letter and let us know what struck you the most.
Bixler v Scientology: Lette… by Tony Ortega
——————–
Bonus items from our tipsters
Meanwhile, in Michigan…
Sign up for a daily email when we post a new story on Scientology.
Did you know you can get an email every morning when we post our daily Scientology story? We know some of the folks who come to the Underground Bunker aren’t here to talk about the politics of the day, and that’s why we created a daily politics feature over at our other blog, The Lowdown, and we ask readers to take their political discussions over there. And if you drop us a line at tonyo94 AT gmail, we’ll put you on the list so you get a morning reminder that a new Scientology story has been posted — and only for our Scientology stories.
——————–
“The possession of an object is necessary to its handling and control. The ability to have something is necessary to its nullification. In other words, if you want to take the danger out of something, you’d better be able to have it. Don’t try to stretch away and run away to the other end of Earth because some machine is going whirr-clang. Because there’s a guillotine somewhere that is going whirr-clang is no reason that you have to go to south Borneo. It might be if you’re trying to play the game of preserve the body, preserve the body, preserve the body, to take the body there. But I assure you, that if you run away from a guillotine, the next time you get beheaded it’ll hurt like hell. But if you didn’t run away from the guillotine there’s a distinct possibility that the guillotine wouldn’t clang. If it did it wouldn’t hurt. First, if it did clang it wouldn’t hurt, or it wouldn’t even drop, or it would disappear, or you probably have the ability to simply mock up a body someplace else. In other words, you could vanish if you could be there. But not if you ran away.” — L. Ron Hubbard, March 25, 1957
——————–
“WEDDING: The Wedding of Diana Hubbard and Jon Horwich went off beautifully. The reception at the hotel was extremely nice. They will go on a honeymoon to the states on April 15. It is planned to have a second ceremony at Jon Horwich’s home. PARTY: There will be a party with the same band aboard on the evening of 3 April for those who did not attend the reception yesterday evening.” — The Commodore, March 25, 1971
——————–
“The Church is causing 98 percent of its own troubles by Misapplications of Scientology, such as Fair Game, wherein they drive others down tone. If the Church would stop all of its Misapplications — 98 percent of the critics would go away. For that remaining two percent who would insanely attack the Church for making people happier — you use AS-ISNESS as the ONLY solution to them. Prove they are telling lies….You are God in your own universe. You cannot be the effect of something unless you agree to be the effect…The Church is a DEAD END bridge at this point in time, as we have already said. The Church product is missing. Its stats on stable Theta Clears, OTs and Free Beings is zero. The Upper Bridge exists outside the Church — and the case gain and exteriorization and OT phenomena outside of the Church, far exceeds any inside the Church. The hope of man now belongs to the independents.”
——————–
1999: Wynot and Ethercat protested in Atlanta this week. “In addition to ethercat and myself, there were two other long-time friends of X, along with the mystery picketer from last December’s Lisa McPherson day pickets. Signs included ‘Scientology is a Scam’, ‘$360,000 for Salvation’, and ethercat’s personal ‘Scientology Stole My Friend’, backed with ‘Scientology/Dianetics SUPPRESSES Free Speech and Free Thought’. As on Blubbard’s birthday, we were immediately validated by a constant stream of waves, honks, and thumbs up from passing traffic. One woman pulled into the gas station next door, and (pointing to the ‘Scam’ sign), asked me if I had just figured that out? I answered that I had been aware of it for a very long time, and we were here because _that_ building is the new Scientology church for Atlanta. About 50 minutes into the picket they sent out a young lady to take our pictures. We attempted to engage her in comm, but she just smiled and snapped. I told her that if there was even one Operating Thetan on Earth, that we would not be here. She continued to smile, but I think the point was made.”
——————–
“You know, I actually try not to swear on here. And If I’m in mixed company I try to do the same. Even though I’m an old punk I do have fairly good manners, and I have the scars from my mother’s fingernails digging into the fleshy part of my arm when I didn’t to prove it.”
——————–
Full Court Press: What we’re watching at the Underground Bunker
Criminal prosecutions:
— Danny Masterson charged for raping three women: Next pretrial conference May 31. Trial scheduled for August 29.
— Jay and Jeff Spina, Medicare fraud: Jay sentenced to 9 years in prison. Jeff’s sentencing to be scheduled.
— Hanan and Rizza Islam and other family members, Medi-Cal fraud: Pretrial conference March 25 in Los Angeles
— David Gentile, GPB Capital, fraud: Next pretrial conference set for April 8.
— Joseph ‘Ben’ Barton, Medicare fraud: Pleaded guilty, awaiting sentencing.
— Yanti Mike Greene, Scientology private eye accused of contempt of court: Hearing held on February 15, awaiting ruling.
Civil litigation:
— Luis and Rocio Garcia v. Scientology: Eleventh Circuit affirmed ruling granting Scientology’s motion for arbitration. Garcias considering next move.
— Valerie Haney v. Scientology: Forced to ‘religious arbitration.’ Valerie’s motion for reconsideration denied on March 15.
— Chrissie Bixler et al. v. Scientology and Danny Masterson: Appellate court removes requirement of arbitration on January 19, case remanded back to Superior Court. Scientology has said it will file an anti-SLAPP motion.
— Brian Statler Sr v. City of Inglewood: Third amended complaint filed, trial set for June 28.
— Author Steve Cannane defamation trial: Trial concluded, Cannane victorious, awarded court costs. Appeal hearing held Aug 23-27. Awaiting a ruling.
— Chiropractors Steve Peyroux and Brent Detelich, stem cell fraud: Lawsuit filed by the FTC and state of Georgia in August, now in discovery phase.
——————–
THE PROSECUTION OF DANNY MASTERSON
We first broke the news of the LAPD’s investigation of Scientology celebrity Danny Masterson on rape allegations in 2017, and we’ve been covering the story every step of the way since then. At this page we’ve collected our most important links, including our four days in Los Angeles covering the preliminary hearing and its ruling, which has Danny facing trial and the potential sentence of 45 years to life in prison.
After the success of their double-Emmy-winning, three-season A&E series ‘Scientology and the Aftermath,’ Leah Remini and Mike Rinder continue the conversation on their podcast, ‘Scientology: Fair Game.’ We’ve created a landing page where you can hear all of the episodes so far.
LEAH REMINI: SCIENTOLOGY AND THE AFTERMATH
An episode-by-episode guide to Leah Remini’s three-season, double-Emmy winning series that changed everything for Scientology watching. Originally aired from 2016 to 2019 on the A&E network, and now on Netflix.
SCIENTOLOGY’S CELEBRITIES, from A to Z
Find your favorite Hubbardite celeb at this index page — or suggest someone to add to the list!
Other links: SCIENTOLOGY BLACK OPS: Tom Cruise and dirty tricks. Scientology’s Ideal Orgs, from one end of the planet to the other. Scientology’s sneaky front groups, spreading the good news about L. Ron Hubbard while pretending to benefit society. Scientology Lit: Books reviewed or excerpted in a weekly series. How many have you read?
——————–
THE WHOLE TRACK
[ONE year ago] Another records request from Scientology shows how Mark Bunker drives them nuts
[TWO years ago] The million-dollar donors keeping Scientology flush, New Year’s 2020 edition
[THREE years ago] Scientology, naturally, is trying to capitalize on the New Zealand mosque massacre
[FOUR years ago] The Ideal Org grift isn’t complete until Scientology’s ‘Birthday Game’ is won
[FIVE years ago] ‘God of Pop’ Kuba Ka on meeting Scientology’s David Miscavige: ‘Like an emperor or the Pope’
[SIX years ago] Attorney for Scientology’s drug rehab centers threatens lawyer running anti-Narconon website
[SEVEN years ago] ‘Going Clear’: Marty Rathbun on what he was thinking during his key moment in Gibney’s film
[EIGHT years ago] New judge announced in Laura DeCrescenzo case, and Narconon lawyers up
[NINE years ago] A SMERSH Madness Update: Time for the Bracket Finals to Begin!
[TEN years ago] Scientology Sunday Funnies: RON the Encyclopedia — THE VIDEO!
——————–
Bernie Headley (1952-2019) did not see his daughter Stephanie in his final 5,667 days.
Valerie Haney has not seen her mother Lynne in 2,614 days.
Katrina Reyes has not seen her mother Yelena in 3,119 days
Sylvia Wagner DeWall has not seen her brother Randy in 2,639 days.
Brian Sheen has not seen his grandson Leo in 1,659 days.
Geoff Levin has not seen his son Collin and daughter Savannah in 1,550 days.
Christie Collbran has not seen her mother Liz King in 4,857 days.
Clarissa Adams has not seen her parents Walter and Irmin Huber in 2,725 days.
Carol Nyburg has not seen her daughter Nancy in 3,499 days.
Doug Kramer has not seen his parents Linda and Norm in 1,830 days.
Jamie Sorrentini Lugli has not seen her father Irving in 4,303 days.
Quailynn McDaniel has not seen her brother Sean in 3,619 days.
Dylan Gill has not seen his father Russell in 12,185 days.
Melissa Paris has not seen her father Jean-Francois in 8,104 days.
Valeska Paris has not seen her brother Raphael in 4,272 days.
Mirriam Francis has not seen her brother Ben in 3,853 days.
Claudio and Renata Lugli have not seen their son Flavio in 4,114 days.
Sara Goldberg has not seen her daughter Ashley in 3,150 days.
Lori Hodgson has not seen her son Jeremy and daughter Jessica in 2,865 days.
Marie Bilheimer has not seen her mother June in 2,390 days.
Julian Wain has not seen his brother Joseph or mother Susan in 745 days.
Charley Updegrove has not seen his son Toby in 1,920 days.
Joe Reaiche has not seen his daughter Alanna Masterson in 6,471 days
Derek Bloch has not seen his father Darren in 3,620 days.
Cindy Plahuta has not seen her daughter Kara in 3,940 days.
Roger Weller has not seen his daughter Alyssa in 8,795 days.
Claire Headley has not seen her mother Gen in 3,914 days.
Ramana Dienes-Browning has not seen her mother Jancis in 2,270 days.
Mike Rinder has not seen his son Benjamin and daughter Taryn in 6,573 days.
Brian Sheen has not seen his daughter Spring in 2,679 days.
Skip Young has not seen his daughters Megan and Alexis in 3,077 days.
Mary Kahn has not seen her son Sammy in 2,953 days.
Lois Reisdorf has not seen her son Craig in 2,536 days.
Phil and Willie Jones have not seen their son Mike and daughter Emily in 3,031 days.
Mary Jane Barry has not seen her daughter Samantha in 3,285 days.
Kate Bornstein has not seen her daughter Jessica in 14,394 days.
——————–
Posted by Tony Ortega on March 25, 2022 at 07:00
E-mail tips to tonyo94 AT gmail DOT com or follow us on Twitter. We also post updates at our Facebook author page. After every new story we send out an alert to our e-mail list and our FB page.
Our new book with Paulette Cooper, Battlefield Scientology: Exposing L. Ron Hubbard’s dangerous ‘religion’ is now on sale at Amazon in paperback and Kindle formats. Our book about Paulette, The Unbreakable Miss Lovely: How the Church of Scientology tried to destroy Paulette Cooper, is on sale at Amazon in paperback, Kindle, and audiobook versions. We’ve posted photographs of Paulette and scenes from her life at a separate location. Reader Sookie put together a complete index. More information can also be found at the book’s dedicated page.
The Best of the Underground Bunker, 1995-2021 Just starting out here? We’ve picked out the most important stories we’ve covered here at the Underground Bunker (2012-2021), The Village Voice (2008-2012), New Times Los Angeles (1999-2002) and the Phoenix New Times (1995-1999)
Other links: BLOGGING DIANETICS: Reading Scientology’s founding text cover to cover | 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 | Shelly Miscavige, 15 years gone | The Lisa McPherson story told in real time | The Cathriona White stories | The Leah Remini ‘Knowledge Reports’ | Hear audio of a Scientology excommunication | Scientology’s little day care of horrors | Whatever happened to Steve Fishman? | Felony charges for Scientology’s drug rehab scam | Why Scientology digs bomb-proof vaults in the desert | PZ Myers reads L. Ron Hubbard’s “A History of Man” | Scientology’s Master Spies | 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
Watch our short videos that explain Scientology’s controversies in three minutes or less…
Check your whale level at our dedicated page for status updates, or join us at the Underground Bunker’s Facebook discussion group for more frivolity.
Our non-Scientology stories: Robert Burnham Jr., the man who inscribed the universe | Notorious alt-right inspiration Kevin MacDonald and his theories about Jewish DNA | The selling of the “Phoenix Lights” | Astronomer Harlow Shapley‘s FBI file | Sex, spies, and local TV news | Battling Babe-Hounds: Ross Jeffries v. R. Don Steele
Tony Ortega at The Daily Beast
