(clipped)
March 26, 1996

Ronald M. Whyte, Federal Judge
Northern District of California
San Jose, CA

Open Letter to Judge Whyte

Dear Judge Whyte:

In the company of perhaps 100,000 other people (the readers of the 
Usenet newsgroups alt.religion.scientology, alt.activism, alt.2600, 
comp.org.eff.talk, and misc.legal), I read the TRO against Mr. Grady 
Ward and "all persons in active concert."  Was it your intent for this 
order to apply to random persons on the Internet such as myself?  If 
so, I believe the TRO is a violation of my First Amendment rights to 
discuss the criminal activities of the cult of Scientology. 

Upon reading the TRO you approved, I sorted the list of documents  
attached and ran a text search on the news spool on one of my accounts 
to see if any of these documents were there.  Some were-- though it is 
impossible to tell if they are the real thing or not.  I pulled out 
the first one which came up.  I had not been inclined to look at this 
material before (it's *boring*), but your TRO inspired me.  Assuming 
this is real, I can see why the "Church" of Scientology is trying to 
suppress this material.  If carried out, the instructions in this 
particular bulletin amount to *criminal* acts, to wit, the practice of 
medicine without a license.  I reproduce this widely available 
document in its entirety for your edification. 


>                HUBBARD COMMUNICATIONS OFFICE
>          Saint Hill Manor, East Grinstead, Sussex
>
>              HCO BULLETIN OF 14 NOVEMBER 1978
>
[snip for a.r.s bandwidth]
>
>Step Four -- Cures for Illness
>
>     You will now find BTs and clusters being cures for illnesses of
>the body part. Handle all such BTs and clusters by blowing them off.
>"Cures for Illness" will then cease to read.
>
[snip!]

Please note that point 4 states that this process of "blowing BTs" 
cures illness.  The phrases "cease to read" and "no longer read" refer 
to "auditing" with an E-meter.  The "Church" of Scientology is under 
Court orders stemming from FDA actions in the early 1970s against 
making such claims involving the use of E-meters.  This bulletin 
(assuming it is real) is written evidence of the level of contempt the 
"Church" of Scientology has for the Courts.  Scientology even has 
policies on using the court system to abuse critics and former 
members. 

Forbidding discussion of this particular document, including quoting
it entirely, is clearly against the public interest as well as a
violation of my First Amendment rights.  Unless, of course, copyright 
law can be used to prevent disclosure of instructions for criminal 
activity. 

With respect to "all persons in active concert,"  I have certainly 
been sympathetic to the ideals Mr. Ward espouses, and felt much of the 
rage he must have felt when (as he puts it) the "criminal cult of 
Scientology" sent Gene Ingram, a wanted felon, to obtain pictures of 
Mr. Ward's children from his mother by deceit.  For what reason did 
the "Church" of Scientology need pictures of Mr. Ward's children?  
Were they planning a kidnapping or was this just a tactic of 
intimidation?  This would certainly be an interesting question for you 
to skillfully ask of the members of the law firm which paid Mr. Ingram 
for this particular service.  They will be in your court Friday. 

I know that taking a stand against Scientology is likely to subject 
me and my family to the same abuse Mr. Ward has experienced.  But 
there comes a point where people of good will *must* stand up to 
criminals--even to those who are experts in using the courts to 
harass.  If you think I am being too harsh in this matter, I can 
supply you with nearly unlimited affidavits and court findings which 
show a consistent pattern of criminal behavior for this cult over 
decades of time.  Friday I will provide to you a letter from Mr. Arnie 
Lerma to Judge Brinkma about the stunts pulled on Mr. Lerma in a 
related case. 

Many of those who read these news groups are outside of the US, and 
thus not subject to your authority.  I, however, am local to San Jose 
and will be in your court Friday morning.  It is my position that the 
public interest in this matter should override *all commercial* 
copyright concerns.  The entire corpus of material the "Church" of 
Scientology is trying to keep from public view is so at odds with what 
cult victims are told when they are suckered into it as to constitute 
fraud--thinly disguised as "religion."  On the other hand, if you feel 
the TRO *does* preclude quoting examples of the copyrighted, trade 
secret, criminal instruction manuals of the "Church" of Scientology, 
please let me know. 


Sincerely,


H. Keith Henson