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From: sthomson@netcom.com (shelley thomson)
Subject: SPECIAL BULLETIN: LERMA HEARINGS /**Biased Journalism**
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        **Biased Journalism** : a net magazine designed to compensate for 
        the shortcomings of the professional news media.          

        Copyright 1995 Shelley Thomson; all rights reserved.  

        Mail, articles and comment may be directed to <sthomson@netcom.com>.  
        Netiquette will be observed with all communication, except for the
        following:  harassing or threatening mail will be posted to the
        net immediately.        

**Biased Journalism**  Special Bulletin:  August 30, 1995.  

Read at your own risk.  This is **Biased Journalism**!


SPECIAL BULLETIN:  A DECISION IN THE LERMA HEARINGS

  
TODAY IN COURT:

        According to an informant, Judge Brinkema ruled today on 
Religious Technology Corporation vs. the Washington Post and two Post 
reporters. 

        The Church [of Scientology, for those new to this discussion] 
lost this round.  They were denied the Temporary Restraining Order, 
Impoundment and expedited Discovery they had asked for against the
Washington Post.  While this decision did not deal directly with the
case of Arnie Lerma, a defendant in the same suit, portions of the 
15-page opinion could be taken to reflect the judge's views of the 
action against Lerma.  

        Lerma's computer and disks have not been returned.    
  
        The following is a key exerpt from today's Memorandum Opinion,
rendered 30 August 1995:

  "IV.  Conclusion

        Having performed the analysis required under Blackwelder,
this Court concluded that Plaintiff's motion for a Temporary
Restraining Order and a Preliminary Injuction; for Impoundment of 
Infringing Articles; and for expedited Discovery against the Post
Defendants must be denied.  The balance of harms is heavily tilted
towards Defendants,  and the Plaintiff's likelihood of success
on the merits is insufficient to right the scale.  Finally the
public interest and constitutional presumption against prior
restraint weigh heavily against the Plaintiff.  For these resons, 
Plaintiff's motion is denied.

        Defendants must maintain the status quo as to possession
of the AT documents and may make fair use thereof.  However,
Defendants are prohibited from making additional copies of the AT
documents and distributing or transferring the documents to
their papers in this action, such filings must be made under seal.


        The Clerk is directed to forward copies of this order to
the counsel for record.

        Entered this 30th day of August  1995

   

 Alexandria Virginia          Leonie M Brinkema
                              United States District Judge"


        It is our understanding, subject to later correction, that the
 "AT documents" mean the advanced technology documents, presumably those
 included in the Fishman Declaration.  The judge apparently does not wish
 at the moment to create another public court record which might be the
 subject of dispute between teams of church members, reporters and the
 inquisitive general public.  


ABC NEWS FEATURES SCIENTOLOGY RAIDS

Staff reporter Arlene Fortiori happened to be watching when:

        On Tuesday evening, August 29, ABC World News offered a story on
the raids by the church of scientology against its best known critics.
A brief explanation was followed by four sound bites.  The first was
Arnie Lerma; there were brief scenes of the search of his home and the 
removal of disks and files.  Lerma looked directly into the camera; 
"They took my computer, my mouse, my records..."  he said, his brown  
eyes filled with the innocent reproachfulness of a wounded deer. (Fortiori 
was still thinking about this when the next sound bite started.)  Larry 
Wollersheim expressed indignation about his raid, which was sympathetically 
described by ABC.  Then the raiders had their say, starting with spokes-
woman Leisa Goodman.  Goodman was tense and unfriendly.  She defended 
the raids as acts to protect the copyrights of the church of scientology.  
The final sound bite belonged to senior scientology lawyer Earle Cooley.  
Cooley seemed defensive and ill at ease.  His bite was a sentence to the 
effect that this is not an issue of freedom of speech, but of the 
protection of copyrighted material.  Cooley's body language said Not 
Happy To Be Here.  It was as if he had been caught doing something 
*really evil,* Fortiori commented.    

        And so it goes.

        Stay tuned for future bulletins from **Biased Journalism**.

        The End




ÿ