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Attorneys for Defendant
UNITED
STATES DISTRICT COURT
DECLARATION OF STACY BROOKS YOUNG I, Stacy Brooks Young, declare as follows: 1. I am over the age of 18 years. 2. I have been retained as an expert consultant and expert witness by Dr. Uwe Geertz's counsel in the case captioned Church of Scientology International v. Steven Fishman and Uwe Geertz, #CV 6426-HLH (TX) currently pending in the United States District Court, Central District of California and if called upon as a witness, I can testify competently thereto. 3. This declaration is submitted in support of Defendant Dr. Geertz's Opposition to CSI's Motion for Continuation of Confidentiality Order entered September 22, 1993, Opposition to CSI's Motion to seal re-created versions of plaintiff's confidential upper level scriptures, and opposition to CSI's motion for Attorney's Fees, Costs and Sanctions Under 29 U.S.C. § 1927, Etc. 4. I was a Scientologist for nearly 15 years, from January 1975 until July 1989. I was in the Guardian Office ("GO") and its successor (a name change only), the Office of Special Affairs ("OSA"), for most of that time. I also worked in another part of Scientology called Author Services, Inc. ("ASI"). SCIENTOLOGY'S
UPPER LEVEL MATERIALS ARE ALREADY 5. It is incredible that plaintiff CSI is still concerned about maintaining any degree of confidentiality of Scientology's so-called "upper level materials." The information contained in these documents has been available in any large public or university library for many years. Attached as Exhibit 1 is a sampling of the many books and newspaper and magazine articles in which these materials have been published. The fact is that these materials are no longer confidential. They are already broadly publicly available. For the Court to continue to maintain their "confidentiality" is somewhat like closing the barn door after the cows have already escaped.
7. CSI cites two words used by Mr. Berry in a letter as examples of his abuse of the Scientology religion. Yet the two words he used are strictly administrative terms having nothing to do with religious beliefs whatsoever. "Dev-T" is a word that means "Developed Traffic," an administrative term for unnecessary or duplicative work. "CSWP" stands for "Completed Staff Work, Please." This term is simply a request for a full proposal. There is nothing religious in either of these phrases.
8. Mr. Lubell, an attorney for CSI, stated in his original motion to strike or seal my expert declarations in this case that "If there were such a thing as an 'expert' on Scientology scripture, such a designation could only be made by the Church"; yet the truth is just the opposite. It is only someone who has been directly involved with Scientology management and then leaves the cult, as I did, who can be trusted to provide the Court with straightforward information about the inner workings and practices of Scientology. It is utterly impossible for anyone who is still a Scientologist (and who therefore still believes that their entire future depends upon remaining a Scientologist) to tell the truth about Scientology. The organization would immediately punish anyone who did so. In short, one can only tell the truth after having made the decision no longer to adhere to the policies of Scientology, which include protecting it at all costs and never uttering a word of criticism or adverse testimony. 9. Contrary to the representations that have been made about my motives in numerous declarations and motions filed in this litigation, I agreed to assist Mr. Berry in his defense of Dr. Geertz because I think it is crucial for outsiders to begin to understand what Scientology really is, what motivates its members, how the leadership views non-Scientologists and critics of Scientology (particularly psychiatrists and psychologists such as Defendant Dr. Uwe Geertz), how Scientologists manipulate the courts for their own ends, and the cold-bloodedness with which people like Steven Fishman are coerced into parting with huge sums of money. 10. The Scientology attorneys claim that I am putting the "religious beliefs" of Scientology on trial. That is nonsense. This is the United States of America; people have the right to believe whatever they want to and I have no desire to convince anyone to stop believing in the Scientology philosophy. It is the practices of this organization that concern me, not the belief system. Violations of civil and human rights, to say nothing of common decency, are so rampant in this organization that it is extremely difficult for an outsider to comprehend why anyone would remain in such a group. 11. Indeed, this is precisely why the Scientologists continue to get away with such abuse. Former members have such bizarre, outrageous tales to tell that outsiders find their stories very difficult to believe, and the Scientologists do everything they can to discredit the former members as mercenaries, liars, thieves, lunatics and worse (as evidenced by the language that has been used by Scientology leaders and their attorneys to describe me during the course of this litigation). The result is that while declaration after declaration has been filed detailing horror stories of sleep deprivation, starvation, involuntary incarceration, loss of consortium, child abuse, suicide, financial crimes and more, Scientology has successfully convinced many courts that the authors of such statements were nothing more than "embittered apostates," as they have now described me. 12. The truth is
much simpler: I am no longer under the influence of the coercive and manipulative
methods of Scientology and I can now see how abusive the practices of
this group are. There are many people who are still its psychological
and emotional captives, and these people are not only being victimized
by the Scientology Sea Organization command structure but are also perpetrating
abuse on others, including children who cannot speak for themselves. People
are being held under guard; people are being interrogated on the E-Meter
for the slightest infraction or the slightest hint of disaffection; women
are being coerced into aborting their unborn children; parents are being
kept from their children for weeks and even months at a time. Scientology
registrars are coercing people to part with their life savings; they are
convincing people to turn over their credit cards; Scientology leaders
are pouring money into the Sea Org coffers while staff in the local organizations
live in abject poverty. 14. Mr. Jentzsch stated that both my husband and I have been on the Rehabilitation Project Force, or RPF. This is very true, and it is where the most horrifying of the abuses takes place, out of sight of anyone else, where staff members are stunned to discover that they themselves are Fair Game for whatever punishment or coercive tactics those in control of Scientology think should be meted out to them. There is no recourse short of leaving Scientology; there is no way off the RPF except to finish the program, and the product of the program is a person who will be utterly, uncritically compliant with his or her seniors without question. Until that is achieved the person is not a "product" and must remain on the RPF. I know that this is true. I experienced it, and so did my husband. So have many other people who have already spoken out about these abuses. There are also many, many others who would speak out except that they are afraid of what the Scientologists will do to them for telling the world what is really going on. 15. I note that there are many things I stated in my declarations which have not been challenged by Mr. Moxon, Mr. Jentzsch, Mr. Miscavige, Mr. Starkey or any of the other Scientology leaders in their declarations. This is because what I have said is true, and they would be perjuring themselves to state otherwise. They malign my character; they call me many names; but they do not dispute the facts contained in my declarations. I am "vile" and "scurrilous" not because I am lying, but because I am telling the truth to people outside of Scientology. 16. Reference is made to the declarations filed by Mr. Moxon, Mr. Jentzsch, Mr. Miscavige, Mr. Starkey and the other Scientology leaders. They are telling what L. Ron Hubbard called "acceptable truths," and Mr. Jentzsch and Mr. Moxon are both veterans of this tactic. So am I; I used to write much of the material that was used to discredit people. Accordingly, I am very familiar with the process by which these declarations were written. These people would have been intently searching through my declarations, looking for statements that could easily be discredited. Obviously they were not able to find very many, based on what they have written. 17. Mr. Jentzsch
provides a good example of a Scientology tactic, which is to divert attention
off the actual point. I stated in my January 4 declaration that what I
found most shocking about Steven Fishman's treatment by Scientology was
that he was sold E-Meters even though he could never qualify for auditing.
Mr. Jentzsch never explains why someone who would never be eligible for
training or processing would have been sold E-Meters. Instead, he skirts
the issue saying that "the various uses of E-meters by Scientology
ministers is hardly relevant to this Court"; yet in fact the uses
of the E-Meter are extremely relevant. I repeat what I stated in my earlier
declaration: only people who are eligible for auditor training or solo
auditing (indeed, only people who are ministers or ministers-in-training)
are suppose to be sold E-Meters. Fishman was eligible for neither; he
should never have been sold an E-Meter. 19. Mr. Jentzsch states that the plaintiff "can produce 1,500 staff members of plaintiff [CSI] who are more competent than the Youngs and could testify that they are wrong.... " Of course all 1,500 staff members of CSI will testify that I am wrong. If they are ordered to do so, they have no choice. It doesn't matter what they personally believe; if they do otherwise than denounce me for what I am revealing about Scientology, they will be declared Suppressive and expelled, or sent to the RRF to be made more compliant. Indeed, it has been my experience that the current Scientology leaders will stop at nothing to protect Scientology from anyone they perceive as a threat. 20. I am still recovering from my experience in Scientology. I am still learning about how groups like Scientology use coercive methods to control people like myself, my husband and many other individuals who are still under its spell. I believe that all Scientologists, even the current leadership, are the victims of Hubbard's version of mind control, just as I was. These people, including the Scientology attorneys and paralegals whom deal with the courts, have no idea how much they are under the coercive influence of Scientology and its leaders. They are utterly fanatical about their dedication, and determined to protect Scientology from "enemies" like my husband and me. 21. I have no wish to turn this litigation into a personal "war" with Scientology, as Mr. Jentzsch suggested in his declaration. It is Scientology, by its refusal to admit the truth of its actions, that invariably turns any litigation into a war. 22. There have been a number of people before me who have publicly told the truth about Scientology, and nearly every one of them has been threatened, frightened, coerced or bought off into silence. I have spoken to many of these people, and many others who are too frightened to come forward publicly, and I can assure you that the information I have been providing to this Court can be corroborated by many other former Scientologists. These people are not "embittered apostates." They are decent human beings who regret having wasted years of their lives in an organization which they now realize was coercive and destructive of their civil and human rights. They have friends who are still captive, as do I. They want to do whatever they can to help those who are still in this group, as do I. I feel it is my duty to provide the truth to the Court as long as the Court finds it relevant. 23. I also feel it is imperative upon the Court not to seal what I and other Scientology experts like me have to say. There are citizens of the United States, right now, whose civil rights are being trampled upon and who have no recourse to the laws of this country. This is happening right in Los Angeles and many other cities. There is a compound (called "the base" or "Int") near Hemet, California, in Riverside County, where security guards keep watch on the staff members to make sure they do not leave the compound. If these people violate the Scientology rules they risk being refused food and shelter. Others are being involuntarily imprisoned. The women at this compound are not allowed to get pregnant and if they do, they are coerced into getting abortions at the Riverside Planned Parenthood Clinic. Church funds are being spent to build exercise rooms and sports fields for the exclusive use of celebrities like Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman, using slave labor from the RPF at $5.00 a week. These laborers are kept up for days at a time at the whim of Scientology leaders like David Miscavige. Children are being kept at camps, away from their parents for weeks at a time. Parents who ask to see their children more than this are frowned upon; children are considered "distractions" to production. Mr. Jentzsch knows this: he and his wife Karen were coerced by David Miscavige into being divorced because Karen wanted Heber to spend more time with their son, Alexander. Miscavige viewed Alexander as a distraction to Heber's production. 24. My expert declarations have nothing to do with religious beliefs. They have to do with serious violations of civil rights of U.S. citizens. This is not the view of an "embittered apostate"; this is the view of a citizen of this country who feels that all Americans have the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, no matter what their religious beliefs. If the Court were to silence voices like mine, as the Scientologists would like the Court to do, there would be no one to speak for the people who are being victimized and destroyed by this group, people like Fishman and Dr. Geertz whose only crime has been to tell the truth to the best of their knowledge. I declare under penalty
of perjury under the laws of the United States of America and the State
of California that the foregoing is true and correct. ______________________________ |