Clearwater
Judge Thomas E. Penick this week issued a permanent injunction to replace the temporary injunctions against Scientology and protesters in Clearwater. "The Defendants have frequently picketed, protested, and demonstrated at the Plaintiffs facilities in Pinellas County, and Clearwater, in particular. Both sides have and continue to expend vast numbers of hours videotaping and 'spying' on each other. Such acts have heightened the tensions and frictions between the parties. During these picketing events, physical confrontations have erupted between the parties. When violence breaks out, the Clearwater Police have had to expend many work hours and taxpayers' dollars to return peace and tranquility to the community. The frequency of the involvement of the Clearwater Police has constantly grown. "Throughout the history of the conflicts and confrontations between the parties, all taxpayers of Clearwater, Pinellas County and the State of Florida have had to expend vast sums of money to compensate numerous governmental agencies of the legislative, executive, and judicial branches of government to administrate, enforce, maintain, prosecute, defend, and promulgate laws to nurture harmony and safety between these parties, and ultimately, the public as a whole. This financial hemorrhaging must be stopped. All branches of government need to move on and devote more time to other matters of public interest rather than to the antics of these parties. "The Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of the State of Florida provide for free speech; however, the right of free speech must be exercised so as not to jeopardize societal interest in safety, tranquility and peace. Generally, a court of equity lacks jurisdiction to enjoin the commission of crimes but where patterns of harassment are detrimental to the public safety, injunctive relief may be utilized. "Inasmuch as both the Petitioner and the Respondent have engaged in and continue to engage in the dangerous and threatening practice of seeing how close one another can get to each other while protesting, picketing, and demonstrating each other, have blocked or inhibited the free flow of foot traffic on the public sidewalks, have blocked the flow of traffic on the public roadways, have inhibited the egress and ingress of the parties from their respective buildings, and have physically touched or attacked each other, it is imperative that all parties must be mutually restrained. "A permanent injunction is entered against the defendants, Robert S. Minton, Jr., Lisa McPherson Trust, Inc,, Jesse Prince, Grady Ward, Stacy Brooks, Jeff Jacobsen, Patricia Greenway, Peter Alexander, Mark Bunker and Tory Bezazian, their members, officers, agents, servants, employees and those persons and entities in actual concert or participation with them who receive actual notice of this injunction, enjoining them from picketing, protesting, and/or demonstrating in the areas designated in BLUE (the 'prohibited zones') on the diagrams of certain properties owned and/or operated by the Church, and from engaging in any of the aforementioned activities within ten feet of any entrance or exit actually used frequently on a daily basis to all Church property. "The defendants are permanently enjoined from coming within ten feet of any member of the Church; from blocking the path of any member or any motor vehicle of the Church; and from physically or by any other means inhibiting any Church member, any member of the general public, or any motor vehicle, from entering or leaving any Church properties. "The defendants are permanently enjoined from making any loud and raucous noise such as, but not limited to yelling, shouting, whistling or singing (whether by natural or amplified voice), or by the employment of any mechanical device such as a horn, whistle, or other noisemaker that creates a loud and raucous noise that can be heard inside any of the Church properties. "The defendants are permanently enjoined from committing any acts of harassment or violence against any member of the Church, including, without limitation, any UNSOLICITED physical, verbal or written contact with any Church staff or parishioner. Videotaping from a distance of more than 10 feet shall not be considered harassment. "A permanent injunction is entered against the Church and its officers, agents, employees and those persons and entities in actual concert or participation with it who receive actual notice of this injunction enjoining them from picketing, protesting, and/or demonstrating in the areas designated in BLUE on the diagram of the Lisa McPherson Trust, Inc. property. "The Church and its officers, agents, servants, employees and those persons and entities in actual concert or participation with it who receive actual notice of this injunction are permanently enjoined from coming within ten feet of any defendant; from blocking the path of any defendant or any motor vehicle of any defendant; and from physically or by any other means inhibiting any defendant, any member of the general public, or any motor vehicle from entering or leaving any properties owned and/or operated by defendants. "The Church and its officers, agents, servants, employees and those persons and entities in actual concert or participation with it who receive actual notice of this injunction are permanently enjoined from making any loud and raucous noise such as, but not limited to, yelling, shouting, whistling or singing (whether by natural or amplified voice), or by the employment of any mechanical device such as a horn, whistle or other noisemaker that creates a loud and raucous noise that can be heard inside the Lisa McPherson Trust, Inc. property. A 'loud and raucous noise' is any sound which because of its volume level, duration, and character, annoys, disturbs, injures or endangers the comfort, health, peace or safety of reasonable persons of ordinary sensibilities. "The Church and its officers, agents, servants employees and those persons and entities in actual concert or participation with it who receive actual notice of this injunction are permanently enjoined from committing any acts of harassment or violence against any of the defendants, including, without limitation, any UNSOLICITED physical, verbal or written contact with any defendant. Videotaping from a distance of more than 10 feet shall not be considered harassment. "Before a Party engages in any acts of Picketing, protesting, and/or demonstrating in designated ORANGE areas within the City of Clearwater against the other party, the Party intending to picket, protest, and/or demonstrate will contact the Clearwater Police Department at least one hour in advance of the demonstration event and inform the Clearwater Police Department of their/its intentions." From the St. Petersburg Times on July 28th "Like a principal separating two schoolyard rivals, a Pinellas County judge on Friday ordered the Church of Scientology and its critics to back off. No more yelling and whistling and carrying on. No more waving signs in the faces of church members as they get off a bus to grab a bite to eat. Stop the spying. And if you want to picket each other, give Clearwater police a one-hour heads-up. "While the order seeks to end harassment on both sides, it specifically targets several trust activities. For example, if trust members want to demonstrate in downtown Clearwater, they'll need to be quiet about it. The order prohibits either side from yelling, shouting, whistling or singing, or blowing a horn whistle or other noisemaker that creates a 'loud and raucous noise' that would disturb 'reasonable persons of ordinary sensibilities.' "The order also expands the previously established no-picketing zone to prohibit the trust from waving signs across from the Watterson Street curb where Scientology members often get off buses to enter a Scientology cafeteria. The cafeteria is also about a block from the headquarters of the Lisa McPherson Trust. "Stacy Brooks, president of the Lisa McPherson Trust said 'I think the idea that there's a need to keep the peace is a concept manufactured by Scientology,' she said. 'What Scientology is trying to do is whittle away our civil rights in Clearwater.'" Message-ID: 8kg4mto2smum9grgqt0c591bdn7iu1et0t@4ax.com Message-ID: 9ju8ps$j5l@netaxs.com HR H3Denmark/H3 Andreas Heldal-Lund reported that Scientology's Narconon program is running an ad campaign on bus shelters. "Narconon is having an add campaign in Denmark these day. They have big posters in bus sheds saying: '250,000 saved from drug addiction' No more details on the poster of course." Message-ID: eps7mt8ie29js47eujq2e3cb68rvabqpp6@4ax.com HR H3Keith Henson/H3 The Riverside Press-Enterprise reported on July 26th that Keith Henson has been sentenced in California for interfering with a religion. "Keith Henson, who has been in Canada since May, was convicted of interfering with religion for protesting at the Church of Scientology's Golden Era Productions in Gilman Hot Springs. Henson's protesting intimidated Golden Era employees, who said they were afraid of him, and kept them from entering their church. "Riverside County Superior Court Judge Robert Wallerstein gave Henson, a 59-year-old Palo Alto resident, the option of serving 180 days in jail and three years of probation instead of the one-year sentence. Henson, who is awaiting a hearing in Canada on his status as a political refugee, communicated with the judge via e-mail. He said he would not accept the sentence because he thinks it is too harsh for his actions. 'I think it will eventually be overturned,' Henson said of the conviction. 'The charges against me are absurd.' "Henson said he was just exercising free speech by protesting. He believes his human rights have been violated by what he calls a harsh sentence, he said. While he waits for his political-refugee application to wend its way through the Canadian immigration courts, Henson is staying with a fellow Scientology protester near Toronto. He said he has no plans to leave Canada in the near future, but he does miss his family and friends." Message-ID: hk20mt8cvdb00g8snv6klmasqmnpufc8ig@4ax.com HR H3David Minkoff/H3 The Tampa Tribune reported on July 25th that David Minkoff, the doctor who was involved in the care Lisa McPherson received at the Fort Harrison hotel until her death, faces disciplinary action by the medical board. "Nearly six years after the death of a Church of Scientology member, a doctor involved in the case faces a one-year license suspension and $10,000 fine. Administrative Judge William F. Quattlebaum ruled in May that although Clearwater physician David Minkoff was not responsible for the death of Lisa McPherson, he illegally prescribed Valium and chloral hydrate to her at the behest of other church members. Minkoff was also a member of the church. "The Florida Board of Medicine is scheduled to meet in Tallahassee on Aug. 3 to consider the recommended punishment. Board spokesman Bill Parizek said Tuesday that the board's final decision is usually similar to a judge's recommendation. "McPherson was alleged to have been confined by the church and denied adequate medical treatment. Criminal charges against the church were dropped last year after the autopsy reports were revised to reflect that the cause of death was 'accidental.' Although admitting no guilt, Minkoff reached a $100,000 settlement in 1997 in a wrongful death lawsuit filed by McPherson's estate." Message-ID: 9jmkkl$k91@netaxs.com HR H3Protest Summary/H3 "Zeratul" reported a protest at the Toronto org this week. "Keith, Kaeli, and Zeratul picketed the Toronto org from 3 to 4 pm today. It was an uneventful picket. Keith stayed over a hundred feet away on the other side of Young St. handing out about a lots of flyers and talking to a number of citizens who had a uniformly bad opinion of Hubbard's cult. Zeratul with a picket sign and Kaeli handing out flyers got up close. The blackout curtains noticed last Saturday were gone today. Late in the picket a cult videographer trained a video camera on the sight of people talking to Keith and taking flyers." Message-ID: 3B61EB28.DFA07666@home.com HR H3Reed Slatkin/H3 The Los Angeles Times reported on July 26th that Scientologist Reed Slatkin is missing over a half a billion dollars of investors' money. "Fallen money manager Reed E. Slatkin owes investors and other creditors $576 million but apparently has assets of less than $45 million, according to a report filed by a court-appointed trustee in Santa Barbara this week. The first official accounting of Slatkin's finances is probably incomplete because the unregistered money manager cooperated only intermittently in identifying his assets and debts, trustee R. Todd Neilson, a forensic accountant, said in the report. "Bankruptcy officials believe Slatkin managed money on behalf of as many as 850 investors, including Hollywood celebrities, Internet executives and socialites from around the country. According to the trustee's reports, Slatkin's assets include more than $12 million in loans made to some of his investors and associates, including $835,200 to fellow EarthLink co-founder Kevin O'Donnell, $1 million to investor Anthony Podell and $1.1 million to Santa Barbara resident Denise Del Bianco. "In the three months before he filed for bankruptcy, Slatkin paid out more than $26 million to investors, creditors and vendors - including $3 million to his own relatives, according to the report. Slatkin also donated more than $200,000 to various Scientology causes in the year before his bankruptcy. He also gave $257,000 to Santa Barbara charities, including $224,000 to the Santa Barbara Bowl Foundation, which raises funds for a local entertainment venue. From the Santa Barbara News-Press on July 27th: "This lopsided profile appears to confirm creditors' fears that they are likely to recover only a fraction of any money entrusted to Mr. Slatkin. The eight-year Hope Ranch resident is the subject of a federal investigation for allegedly defrauding up to 850 investors through his unregistered investment advisory business. The trustee's conclusion that Mr. Slatkin is apparently nearly half a billion dollars short -- and that he paid $3.4 million this year to relatives prior to filing for bankruptcy protection in May -- will not endear him to a crowd of creditors due at a Santa Barbara hotel's conference room on Monday for a special case update. Mr. Slatkin is scheduled to face his creditors for the first time at that meeting. "Lawyers for Mr. Slatkin on Thursday issued a statement that the $500 million figure in the report includes claims by investors who made more than they invested with Mr. Slatkin, but believe they are owed still more money. The statement said some of these investors might actually be required to return some or all of their profits to Mr. Slatkin's bankruptcy estate for distribution to investors who did not do so well. "Mr. Slatkin paid $26,233,340 this year to investors, creditors and vendors such as the phone company before filing for bankruptcy protection in May, the report states. That included paying $3,403,278 to six relatives, the trustee's report said. The payments ranged from $50,000 to his wife, Mary Jo Slatkin, to $76,836 to his son, Justin Slatkin. He also paid $1,808,768 to Sally Sovernisky, $853,575 to Irving Rubin, $600,000 to Ron Schmier and $14,199 to Joanne Berger. The report identified these people as relatives, but gave no further details. Mr. Slatkin this year also paid $78,263 to Jean Janu, his bookkeeper in New Mexico. "He also donated $68,975 to the Church of Scientology this year, records show. Mr. Slatkin and his wife are ordained ministers in the church. When he began his investment club in 1987, Mr. Slatkin collected money from fellow members of the Church of Scientology with promises of high profits - some did realize high returns - and over the years added other investors." Message-ID: tm31kdt7iblee8@corp.supernews.com Message-ID: tm354uehmsi786@corp.supernews.com
A.r.s. Week in Review is put together by Rod Keller ©
This collection is organised for WWW by Andreas Heldal-Lund.
Only edits done by me is replacing word encapsuled in * or _ with bold and underscore, and made links into HTML.
