Leah Remini files notice: Let Judge Kalra handle BOTH Scientology harass cases

Leah Remini got a lot of attention yesterday evening when she posted an image of her associate’s degree from New York University to share how much it meant to her to reach that goal at 53 years of age while she continues to work toward a bachelor’s degree.

Another move she made yesterday got less attention but is just as smart: Now that David Miscavige has peremptorily removed Judge Randolph Hammock from Leah’s lawsuit against him and the Church of Scientology, Leah filed notice with the court that it makes sense for Judge Upinder Kalra, who is handling the similar Bixler harassment lawsuit against Scientology, to handle both cases at the same time.

Leah’s suggestion comes right after Judge Kalra handed Scientology a stunning defeat in the Bixler lawsuit, denying the church’s special motions to strike as it attempted to gut the lawsuit that was filed by Danny Masterson’s victims in 2019.

Judge Kalra flat-out denied all four special motions to strike, saying that the Jane Doe victims had met the minimal standard of properly alleging that they had been stalked, surveilled, and harassed by Scientology’s agents since they came forward to the LAPD with rape allegations against Masterson in 2016.

Scientology, for example, had claimed that some of the people the Jane Does said had harassed them were not working for the church. But Judge Kalra responded that at this early part of the case, simply the appearance of a conspiracy was enough of an allegation to move the case forward.

It was a huge victory for the Jane Does, and now Leah Remini is pointing out that the cases are so similar, it makes a lot of sense for Judge Kalra to handle her case as well.

This action (Remini) is related to the Bixler matter in that the majority of the Defendants are the same and because each involves claims of intimidation, stalking and other tactics that arise out of the Defendants’ typical operating procedures. To the extent each party is successful, any recovery would be derived from the same sources of these Defendants. Furthermore, both cases involve substantially similar questions of law that, but for being related, may result in incongruent rulings. Recent anti-SLAPP motions and rulings have made evident the overlapping issues and possibility of inconsistent rulings. If the cases remain separate and heard by different judges, the cases will require substantial duplication of judicial resources. Moreover, the Remini case is currently unassigned given one of the Defendant’s Rule 170.6 strike of Judge Hammock.

Wow, what a way to make Miscavige pay for pulling Judge Hammock out of the case — give it to Judge Kalra, who just hammered Scientology in a very similar lawsuit.

Will the court go for it? We have no idea. But we think Leah and her team are pretty brilliant for suggesting it. (And she has the college degree to prove it.)

 
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Technology Cocktail

“Scientology only occasionally handles a terror stomach. In fact a person whose terror stomach wasn’t handled by Dianetics and its R3R can go all the way to OT VI sometimes with it. He doesn’t get rid of the terror stomach and he doesn’t (since he had a present time problem all the way) make OT VI either.” — L. Ron Hubbard, 1969

 
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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 as Danny faces a potential sentence of 45 years to life in prison. NOW WITH TRIAL INDEX.

 
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THE PODCAST: How many have you heard?

[1] Marc Headley [2] Claire Headley [3] Jeffrey Augustine [4] Bruce Hines [5] Sunny Pereira [6] Pete Griffiths [7] Geoff Levin [8] Patty Moher [9] Marc Headley [10] Jefferson Hawkins [11] Michelle ‘Emma’ Ryan [12] Paulette Cooper [13] Jesse Prince [14] Mark Bunker [15] Jon Atack [16] Mirriam Francis [17] Bruce Hines on MSH

— SPECIAL: The best TV show on Scientology you never got to see

[1] Phil Jones [2] Derek Bloch [3] Carol Nyburg [4] Katrina Reyes [5] Jamie DeWolf

— The first Danny Masterson trial and beyond

[18] Trial special with Chris Shelton [19] Trial week one [20] Marc Headley on the spy in the hallway [21] Trial week two [22] Trial week three [23] Trial week four [24] Leah Remini on LAPD Corruption [25] Mike Rinder 2022 Thanksgiving Special [26] Jane Doe 4 (Tricia Vessey), Part One [27] Jane Doe 4 (Tricia Vessey), Part Two [28] Claire Headley on the trial [29] Tory Christman [30] Bruce Hines on spying [31] Karen de la Carriere [32] Ron Miscavige on Shelly Miscavige [33] Karen de la Carriere on the L’s [34] Mark Bunker on Miscavige hiding [35] Mark Plummer [36] Mark Ebner [37] Karen Pressley [38] Steve Cannane [39] Fredrick Brennan [40] Clarissa Adams [41] Louise Shekter [42] John Sweeney [43] Tory Christman [44] Kate Bornstein [45] Christian Stolte [46] Mark Bunker [47] Jon Atack [48] Luke Y. Thompson [49] Mark Ebner [50] Bruce Hines [51] Spanky Taylor and Karen Pressley [51] Geoff and Robbie Levin [52] Sands Hall [53] Jonny Jacobsen [54] Sandy Holeman [55] Mark Bunker [56] Trish and Liz Conley [57] Trish Conley [58] Alex Barnes-Ross [59] Alex Barnes-Ross [60] Alex Barnes-Ross [61] Alex Barnes-Ross [62] Alex Barnes-Ross [63] Alex Barnes-Ross [64] Tory Christman [65] Tammy Synovec [66] Dennis Erlich [67] Alex Barnes-Ross [68] Valerie Ross [69] Kat in Austin [70] Mark Bunker [71] Phil Jones

 
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Source Code

“Let’s take CCH 1, ‘Give me that hand.’ It could have possibly also — I am not saying you should run it with this command, but you — ‘Reach me. Reach me. Reach me.’ You get the similarity here? See, PC really is at cause, see? You could just say, ‘Reach me.’ And make sure that he did and it would be quite interesting. I don’t advocate that you fellows do this, although once in a while, some squirrel auditor develops some technology by which he can use Scientology to make a girl more accessible. Now personally, I find it difficult to understand this, because I myself, you see, have never needed Scientology! I don’t waste a brag, but I just want to point this out. Here you have a situation where that’s a poor show. But you actually could take a girl and have her reach your right knee and your left knee and your right shoulder and your left shoulder and your nose and the top of your head and your right hand and left hand. And every now and then, ask her how she feels about you. And if you don’t flatten the process, just about the time this thing goes into the plus state, she’ll tell you she’s mad about you, she thinks you’re wonderful. That’s right.” — L. Ron Hubbard, March 29, 1962

 
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Avast, Ye Mateys

“There is not one person aboard, swabbie, snipe or clerk who is not vital to maintaining our presence on Int lines either by keeping the ship running or safe or actually pushing comm pkgs or admin actions. To the several million Scientologists in the world our presence is felt even when it is only quietly acting within orgs over the world. There’s an awful lot of lightning and thetan power in this theta line and everyone on board is contributing to it. Whatever the grease on your nose or the callouses on your ball point finger you are helping to keep this line in existence and contributing your energy and actions to pushing it through. Next time you’re tired or upset — remember that.” — The Commodore, March 29, 1970

 
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Overheard in the FreeZone

“In retrospect the one thing I’m most grateful for was my tenacity to not stop with my studying of the R6 materials until I see its practicality. It took quite some work but eventually I began to see what LRH discovered and was dealing with. I still marvel at the diabolical accuracy by which the bank itself operates, yet creates such incredible confusion. It’s quite something to see the myriad of complexities people squabble over and then do the darnedest of things calling it a solution. Man operating as a meat body and doing the things he does is a ‘result of pattern’ not of evolution or any other fancy terms of pseudo sciences. I certainly don’t profess to be greater, bigger or better compared to another at anything, I left that cyclic & competitive game sometime back. My body is old and is doing its thing and we get on more or less pretty well. We don’t play the dynamic game actively anymore but I see the demise of Church of Scientology as resulting from infiltration and then destroyed from within as the greatest crime ever to be committed in the sphere of suppression inflicted upon our species.”

 
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Past is Prologue

2000: The Wall Street Journal published an article on Franchise Pictures and Battlefield Earth. “Big stars usually have to cut their fees by half or more, accepting instead profit-participation that in some cases reaches an enormous 40 percent, after costs have been recouped. Mr. Samaha’s strategy is just weeks away from its biggest test yet, the May 12 release of a science-fiction epic called ‘Battlefield Earth.’ The film is the pet project of John Travolta, whose superstar clout failed to get it made for a dozen years. Script problems and a projected $100 million budget were often blamed, but many movie executives thought another big factor was the film’s source materials 1982 novel by L. Ron Hubbard, late founder of the controversial Church of Scientology, which counts Mr. Travolta as a longtime member. ‘Battlefield’ is the first screen adaptation of any Hubbard science-fiction work, an achievement Mr. Travolta says is ‘like putting Tennessee Williams’ first works on the screen. It’s a big deal.’ Mr. Samaha, he adds, was ‘smart to trust the artist.’ ‘Everyone thought I was crazy or mentally retarded’ for tackling the project, Mr. Samaha says. Though the film has nothing to do with Scientology, some feared the Hubbard connection could provoke a backlash and make the film difficult to sell in places such as Germany and France, where Scientology has come under government attack. Even Mr. Travolta, Mr. Samaha recalls, warned that ‘lots of people are going to come to you and try and persuade you and be negative about it.’ Franchise got it made by using a formula usually reserved for tiny independent films. Imperial Bank in Los Angeles provided loans to pay the production costs, which were slashed to a planned $50 million, but about 80% of that was to be covered by the presale of foreign distribution rights. Mr. Travolta had been keen to make the project since the mid-1980s, when he first lent his name to screenplay adaptations of the 1,050-page L. Ron Hubbard novel. Mr. Elwes and others say that the Hubbard tie is the main reason ‘Battlefield’ has never been made. Asked if he believes that the Hubbard connection placed extra hurdles in the film’s way, Mr. Travolta says: ‘I’ll never know.’ He adds that, ‘If it were an issue secretly to someone, it would not be politically correct to voice it.’ The Scientology question was raised numerous times and batted down by Mr. Samaha, who says he would bark: ‘This is what the movie is about: It’s ‘Planet of the Apes’ starring John Travolta. You’re either in or you’re the f—— out.’ Intertainment President Barry Baeres says that, given the controversy over Scientology in Germany, ‘at first sight, you would say no to it.’ But he succumbed to Mr. Samaha’s insistence that ‘Battlefield Earth’ was Scientology-free. Mr. Travolta has contributed some of his own money – more than $5 million, according to Mr. Samaha.”

 
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Random Howdy

“I rarely ever downvote comments. I do downvote rude comments and drive-by comments by Scientologists (or people pretending to be) who are too chicken to hang around and argue their beliefs. If a real Scientologist showed up here and seriously debated their beliefs with someone, I wouldn’t downvote them.”

Full Court Press: What we’re watching at the Underground Bunker

Criminal prosecutions:
— Danny Masterson charged for raping three women: Found guilty on two counts on May 31, remanded to custody. Sentenced to 30 years to life on Sep 7.
— ‘Lafayette Ronald Hubbard’ (a/k/a Justin Craig), aggravated assault, plus drug charges: Grand jury indictments include charges from an assault while in custody. Next pretrial hearing May 17, 2024.
— David Gentile, GPB Capital, fraud.

Civil litigation:
— Leah Remini v. Scientology, alleging ‘Fair Game’ harassment and defamation: Some defamation claims were removed by Judge Hammock. Leah seeking to amend her complaint.
— Baxter, Baxter, and Paris v. Scientology, alleging labor trafficking: Forced to arbitration. Plaintiffs allowed interlocutory appeal to Eleventh Circuit.
— Valerie Haney v. Scientology: Forced to ‘religious arbitration.’
— Chrissie Bixler et al. v. Scientology and Danny Masterson: motion to file new complaint, hearing on May 29.
— Jane Doe 1 v. Scientology, David Miscavige, and Gavin Potter: Case unsealed and second amended complaint filed. Scientology moves for religious arbitration, hearing on April 16.
— Chiropractors Steve Peyroux and Brent Detelich, stem cell fraud: Ordered to mediation.

 
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SCIENTOLOGY: FAIR GAME

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?

 
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THE WHOLE TRACK

[ONE year ago] Judge Olmedo rules: Here are the details from the rulings on Danny Masterson’s retrial
[TWO years ago] How Danny Masterson’s criminal judge has iced out Scientology leader David Miscavige
[THREE years ago] Jokes aside, there is quite a bit of crossover between QAnon and Scientology
[FOUR years ago] ‘PROTECT THE ORG’ is Scientology’s highest purpose says new edict
[FIVE years ago] Scientology ‘body-routing’: When no one wants what you’re selling
[SIX years ago] Leah Remini on Scientology’s stalking — nothing is going to stop her third season of ‘Aftermath’
[SEVEN years ago] SCIENTOLOGY TV: It’s really happening! Spectrum blocks out a channel for Miscavige
[EIGHT years ago] Scientology pampered some of its big donors with a trip back in time to Phoenix in 1954
[NINE years ago] The crowd’s all here: What does the airing of the Scientology doc ‘Going Clear’ mean to you?
[TEN years ago] Scientology answers the Garcias — And turns over a trove of internal documents
[ELEVEN years ago] Scientology’s Job One: Saving the Whales

 
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Posted by Tony Ortega on March 29, 2024 at 07:00

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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, 1995-2022 Just starting out here? We’ve picked out the most important stories we’ve covered here at the Underground Bunker (2012-2022), 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

 

Tony Ortega at Rolling Stone