Scientologists Vow to Demonstrate Until Damage Award Is Overturned

Protesters from the Church of Scientology--a common sight on the streets of downtown Los Angeles since the organization was ordered to pay a $30-million damage award more than a month ago--have vowed to continue their daily demonstrations until they are vindicated in the case which they portray as a threat to religious freedom.

“We will continue until we get this thing thrown out,” said the Rev. Ken Hoden, president of the church in Los Angeles.

The church currently is attempting to win a new trial or overturn a Superior Court jury’s July 22 damage award to former member Larry Wollersheim, who charged that the organization set out to drive him mad and wrecked him financially after he criticized the church.

Judge Ronald Swearinger, who presided over the jury trial, has been hearing the church’s post-trial motions. A decision is expected in the days ahead.

Meanwhile, almost daily, hundreds of protesters have marched and chanted through the Civic Center, handing out literature, carrying signs and large red, white and blue banners reading “Religious Freedom Crusade.”

The protest, highlighted by concerts featuring big-name entertainers as well as an all-night vigil, has been centered on a parcel of vacant state-owned property at 1st and Spring streets next to the Criminal Courts Building and dubbed Freedom City by organizers.

Freedom City organizers claim that a total of 15,000 persons from 25 countries have participated in the monthlong demonstrations.

Celebrities such as Priscilla Presley, actor John Travolta and musicians Chick Corea and Al Jarreau have made appearances.

Thousands of free meals have been served at the downtown rallies, and according to Hoden, operating expenses during the past week have been more than $20,000 a day.

Church leaders have vowed to remain on the site until their efforts to quash the Wollersheim verdict are resolved. Should that extend beyond Sunday, however, Freedom City will have to find a new home. The church’s 30-day permit for use of the property expires Sept. 14, said Anne Garbeff, spokeswoman for the state general services office, which issued the permit.

To obtain the permit, Garbeff said, the church had to post a $1 million insurance bond, guarantee that the property would be kept clean and provide at least one monitor for every 50 people.

Garbeff said that, under California administrative codes, religious and other groups are permitted to demonstrate on state-owned property as long as the purpose is primarily non-commercial, that it does not interfere with government business and that it poses no public health and safety risks.

Last Thursday, in their biggest show of strength, an estimated 6,000 Scientology supporters congregated around the Criminal Courts building, waving American flags and carrying signs reading, “The Sun Never Sets on Scientology,” “Your Church May Be Next” and “No More Heresy Trials.” The refrains of “We Shall Overcome” and chants of “Religious Freedom Now” could be heard in the 11th floor courtroom where Swearinger listened to arguments from the church’s lawyers.

Some church members expressed hope that their demonstrations would sway the judge’s decision. They recalled similar demonstrations last year in Portland where an estimated 10,000 church members gathered to protest a $39-million judgment against the church. In that case, the plaintiff said the church defrauded her by promising she would improve her eyesight and communication skills by following its teachings. The judgment was ultimately dismissed by a trial judge.

As in the Portland case, Scientology leaders have portrayed their battle in Los Angeles as a valiant defense of the First Amendment’s guarantee of religious freedom.

“Our goal is to inform people that there’s a problem in America with religion being dragged into the courtroom,” Hoden said.

“The government is being used as a sledge hammer to smash an entire religious belief,” he said, contending that the church’s religious beliefs, rather than any “secular” misconduct, have been unconstitutionally put on trial. The church’s beliefs are based on the teachings of its founder, the late L. Ron Hubbard, a science fiction writer who also wrote books about his mind science, called Dianetics.

Church critics contend that Scientologists are hiding behind the veneer of religious freedom. And jurors in the Wollersheim case have repeatedly denied the church’s contention that its religion was put on trial.

In a recent interview with The Times, jury foreman Andre A. Anderson said: “At no time did we discuss the religious beliefs of the Church of Scientology. All this bull you hear on TV about this being an attack on freedom of religion, that is wrong. These people (the Scientologists) broke the law.”

Ed Walters, a former Scientologist who testified against the church in the Los Angeles trial, charged that the church is “trying to appeal to the citizens of Los Angeles . . . with the threat that if Scientologists are treated this way, their religion may be next.”

“In fact,” Walters said, other religions have nothing to fear because “other religions don’t seek out and destroy people who don’t agree with them.”