Anonymous on Trial? Scientology Steps Up Skirmish

More members of Anonymous are finding out the real costs of doing battle with Scientology.

A Church spokesperson recently denied that “lawyers” were visiting the members of the Guy Fawkes-masked Thetan-addled Church antagonists. But Radar has discovered several incidents in which representatives of law firms have delivered some form of legal letters to suspected Anons, often at their homes.

Get that? The “lawyers” from the firms are not themselves hand-delivering the letters, making the Scientology spokesperson’s claim technically right, though practically a lie. Besides, it’s the lawyers for Scientology-hired firms that have been slapping their names on the delivered documents and DVD packages.

Scientology’s abuse of the legal system
Scientology’s founder, L. Ron Hubbard, encouraged and condoned the abusive misuse of the legal system that the cult is known for:
The purpose of the suit is to harass and discourage rather than to win. The law can be used very easily to harass, and enough harassment on somebody who is simply on the thin edge anyway, well knowing that he is not authorized, will generally be sufficient to cause his professional decease. If possible, of course, ruin him utterly.
– L. Ron Hubbard, A Manual on the Dissemination of Material, 1955 (See: The Purpose of a Lawsuit is to Harass)

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Firms like Latham & Watkins or Johnson Pope, Bokor, Ruppel & Burns. At least one Latham & Watkins letter was signed by David J. Schindler, the former Assistant U.S. Attorney who prosecuted the criminally mischievous nerd any self-respecting hacker wannabe worships, Kevin Mitnick.

And while younger, greener members have been getting mere multimedia threat packages, one Boston organizer for Anonymous found himself slapped with a summons to appear at an April 16 hearing on charges of trespassing and criminal harassment (which, interestingly, requires that the harassment occur against and individual, not a church).
[…]

The Scientology spokesperson who commented earlier to Radar, denying that the Church sent “lawyers” to visit anyone, has not responded to follow-up questions asking whether other legal representatives paid anyone visits or whether the Church agrees with the tactic.
[…Full story at Radar Online…]

Source

(Listed if other than Religion News Blog, or if not shown above)
, Radar Online, Mar. 31, 2008, http://radaronline.com

Religion News Blog posted this on Tuesday April 1, 2008.
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