Tony Ortega is a journalist who was formerly the editor of The Village Voice. He's written about Scientology since 1995, and in May 2015 released a book about Scientology's harassment of Paulette Cooper titled 'The Unbreakable Miss Lovely.' He continues to monitor breaking developments in the Scientology world from an undisclosed location in an underground bunker he shares with four cats and one of them wrinkly Shar Pei dogs. Despite his super-secret security protections, you can still reach him pretty easily by sending him a message at tonyo94 AT gmail.com (Drop him a line if you'd like to get an e-mail whenever a new story is posted.) [Header image courtesy John Rickard]
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David Miscavige wastes no time once the stay is lifted in Monique Rathbun’s lawsuit

 As we expected, as soon as the Texas Supreme Court temporarily lifted the stay in Monique Rathbun’s harassment lawsuit against the Church of Scientology, a motion was filed this week in Dib Waldrip’s Comal County court, and we have a copy of it for you. And sure enough, there was a surprise — the motion []

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Our Texas legal expert helps us understand what’s next in Monique Rathbun’s lawsuit

 When news broke that Monique Rathbun had fired her legal team, we turned to commenter “TX Lawyer” for help understanding the ramifications of her decision. If you’re a regular reader of the site, you know that for a couple of years TX Lawyer has helped us understand the arcane twists and turns of Monique’s lawsuit, []

The particularly bad timing of Monique Rathbun’s decision to fire her attorneys

 We wanted to follow up yesterday’s blockbuster news with some important details. Namely, where Monique Rathbun’s lawsuit against the Church of Scientology is today, and what immediate deadlines it []

MONIQUE RATHBUN FIRES HER ENTIRE LEGAL TEAM, REPORTEDLY SEEKS SETTLEMENT

 Shocking news today out of Texas. Monique Rathbun’s legal team filed a notice with the Texas Supreme Court Friday withdrawing from Monique’s harassment lawsuit against the Church of Scientology after they were fired by Monique “without []

Monique Rathbun: Hey, Texas court, here’s something to chew on

 It’s been a long time since we’ve heard anything about the Monique Rathbun lawsuit against Scientology and its leader, David Miscavige.

The Texas lawsuit was put on hold when Scientology appealed a March 2014 ruling by Comal County Judge Dib Waldrip denying its “anti-SLAPP” motion. Arguments were made at a hearing before the Texas Third []

Scientology asks court in Monique Rathbun’s case to take note of Vance Woodward’s loss

Karen de la Carriere and Jeff Augustine recently met with Vance Woodward (center)

We’re still waiting for a big decision from the Texas Third Court of Appeals regarding Monique Rathbun’s harassment lawsuit against the Church of Scientology. You may remember that Scientology appealed Comal County Judge Dib Waldrip’s denial of Scientology’s “anti-SLAPP” motion that []

DOX: Here’s Monique Rathbun’s response to Scientology’s appeal of its anti-SLAPP defeat

We’ve got Monique Rathbun’s brief that was filed yesterday with the Texas Third Court of Appeals, and it’s a fascinating read.

The appeals court ruled recently that Monique can’t depose Scientology leader David Miscavige in her harassment action against him, but that was for a jurisdictional matter that didn’t affect the overall lawsuit.

This time, she’s opposing []

Monique Rathbun in court as appeals panel considers proposed David Miscavige deposition

Monique Rathbun’s harassment lawsuit against the Church of Scientology and its leader, David Miscavige, moves to a new venue today as oral arguments are heard at the Texas Third Court of Appeals in Austin.

We’ll have several observers on hand as the proceedings begin at 1:30 pm, local time. At issue today is Comal County Judge []

DOX: Monique Rathbun’s response to bid by Scientology to stop the Miscavige deposition

Leslie Hyman, rock star

On Friday, we broke the big news that Comal County Judge Dib Waldrip had denied Scientology’s convoluted ‘anti-SLAPP’ motion which had upended Monique Rathbun’s harassment lawsuit against the church over the past few months.

What we failed to point out, however, is how central to Waldrip’s 25-page order was an argument []

Monique Rathbun files motion for contempt against Scientology defendants

On Friday, Monique Rathbun upped the ante on her objections about Scientology’s legal behavior by filing a motion for contempt in her harassment lawsuit against the church and its leader, David Miscavige.

Previously, she had filed a motion for sanctions, complaining that Scientology was holding back evidence that she was entitled to. Now, she’s gathered more []