The Nation - News from Aug. 11, 1988

A federal judge refused to block publication in the United States of a critical biography of Church of Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard, citing First Amendment rights. Judge Pierre Leval in U.S. District Court in Manhattan issued the 86-page opinion on “Bare-Faced Messiah: The True Story of L. Ron Hubbard.” New Era Publications International, a Danish corporation associated with the church, according to Leval, sued to block publication of the book by Henry Holt & Company Inc., of New York, in the United States. The reason for seeking to stop publication was “that the biographer has infringed the copyrights of the subject.” The author was identified as Russell Miller, but was not named in the suit.