Sect still scrapping in five local lawsuits

By Bill Prescott, Sun staff writer
Clearwater Sun - May 2, 1982

The lawsuit filed this past week by the Church of Scientology against the city of Clearwater brings the number of local legal scraps the sect is involved in to five.

That suit sought a temporary restraining order in Tampa federal court to stop the city's public hearings on Scientology activities before they begin Wednesday. The church contended the hearings will violate various constitutionally guaranteed freedoms.

However, U.S. District Judge William Castagna ruled that Scientology's "asserted religious nature" does not protect it from the city's investigation. Castagna did not rule on the lawsuit request for a preliminary injunction against the city and the hearings.

Such a ruling, Castagna asserted will require a full trial, something he could not fit into his schedule prior to the city hearings.

Other lawsuits of local interest involving Scientology include:

• Gabrial and Magaret Cazares vs. the Church of Scientology of California

Cazares, Pinellas County commissioner and former Clearwater mayor, sued the sect in March 1980 for $1.5 million contending he and his wife were victims of harassment several years ago.

The couple contends Scientologists brought maliciously a suit against the former mayor in 1976, intending to ruin him financially and politically. The suit contends also that sect executives recruited a spy to act as the Cazares' lawyer in legal battles with Scientology in 1977.

The suit, filed in state court in St. Petersburg, was moved to Volusia County at the church's request. This past week, a Scientology motion to dismiss was denied.

• The Church of Scientology vs. Schultz

The church filed suit against Pinellas County Property Appraiser Ron Schultz in 1976 when he levied property taxes on the sect's buildings. A subsequent suit filed in 1977 was combined with the 1976 action. The church lost the suit in lower state courts and it appealed to the Florida Supreme Court. Before the high court ruled, the church paid the county a "donation" in the same amount as the tax bill.

Schultz said the church has filed similar suits in subseuqent years as he levies property taxes. One is pending in the state Second District Court of Appeals. Schultz said the sect's 1981 tax bill was about $250,000.

• Tonja Burden vs. the Church of Scientology

Filed in July 1980 in Tampa federal court, Miss Burden's suit contends she was brainwashed, imprisoned, bilked and emotionally abused by the church between 1973 and 1977. The suit contends she was a personal messenger for sect founder L. Ron Hubbard and seeks $16 million in damages.

A church motion to dismiss the case was denied this past week.

• Nancy and John McLean vs. the Church of Scientology

Formerly high-ranking church officials, the mother and son filed suit against the church in Tampa federal court in February 1981. The suit contends the church harassed them with lawsuits and invaded their privacy.

Hubbard and his wife, Mary Sue, are named as defendants in the case.