Florida Courts Throw Out Church Of Scientology’s Second Request To Block Protests On Saturday
News Channel 8 image by Michael Egger
Scientology received is second blow as Pinellas-Pasco Circuit Judge W. Douglas Baird rejected a second injunction filed by the Church to have protesters barred from protesting within 500 feet of the Church’s Flag Land Base Center in Clearwater, citing similar reasons as the previous request rejected by Judge Linda Allan yesterday.
Though the Tampa Bay Tribune states this second injunction differed slightly, similar assertions were cited by the CoS in its filing. Some additional details on the report:
In the case Allan ruled on, the church was using a process usually used by women who are in fear of their abusive husbands or boyfriends. The church wanted all protestors to remain at least 500 feet away from church structures and officials.
Allan noted that the Church of Scientology is a corporation, not a person, and that the process the church’s attorneys were seeking to stop the protesters is by law reserved for a “person who is the victim of repeat violence,” according to a copy of her ruling.
The church’s tact with Judge Baird was slightly different.
The bulk of the second petition was the same as the one Allan reviewed – alluding to threatening anonymous YouTube videos, for instance. But this time Scientology attorneys said the protestors, by standing at the entrances of church buildings, would “chill” church events and services, causing Scientologists not to attend. This, the church said, constituted a violation of church members’ Constitutional rights.
Baird noted there was no evidence the 26 individuals named as members of Anonymous in the church’s petition were responsible for any threats or wrongful acts against the church. And they hadn’t been informed properly of the injunction the church was seeking.
“Under these circumstances, when threats from unknown individuals are received, or when incidents such as the various YouTube or MySpace postings are interpreted as threatening, the matter is more properly one for local law enforcement rather than the constitutionally extreme remedy sought by injunction without notice against these individuals,” his ruling said.
In a strange coincidence, around the same time as Judge Baird’s ruling was given, the report of a suspicious package was reported by the Church of Scientology at one of its local St. Petersburg orgs. It has since been detonated using a remote robot device by a Tampa Bay bomb squad.
Contained in the package was a “Bible, clothing and personal items.”
Not found, a healthy does of skepticism and a dollop of irony.
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Comment by beebee — March 13, 2008 @ 5:24 pm
Scientologists get police to blow up bibles?
Comment by Terry Yeo — March 13, 2008 @ 5:39 pm
Will the Clearwater police charge the Scilons for all the robot work and explosions & stuff? There must be a certain threshhold below which “bomb threats” are considered spurious. Since no-one so far has taken their wolf-crying about “terrorists” seriously, is some vagrant’s old suitcase in the alley a valid reason to push the panic button? There’s probably a paper bag full of trash on the sidewalk outside my building; should I call the bomb squad? Oh noez, a homeless guy stashed his stuff in the bushes outside the community hall; is it can be bomb squad tiem? I think someone in Clearwater should send the Scilons a bill for the unjustifiable BAWWWing.
Comment by Rao — March 13, 2008 @ 5:49 pm
Maybe that suitcase was some scientologist trying to blow the Co$. Didn’t I read somewhere where one ex sci his her stuff in the alley before she escaped as they were constantly being watched? Maybe not but how ironic that it contained a bilble. Bee bee is right, beware dead agenting, fair game and plants. With all the money the Co$ lawyers have meade over the years they must have become laxed if that was the best they could come up with. Not so easy when you can’t harass an individual like Paulette Cooper or Arnie. No offense to lawyers in general but these lawyers must have known about much wrong doing in the “cult” yet turned a blind eye and took their blood money. If htis goes down they should be investigated as well.
Comment by Mitsu Too — March 13, 2008 @ 6:01 pm
…”and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.” -Jesus
The Truth is more dangerous to $cientology than any bomb.
Comment by Ben — March 13, 2008 @ 6:13 pm
[...] using a process usually used by women who are in fear of their abusive husbands or boyfriends. GlossLip » Florida Courts Throw Out Church Of Scientology’s Second Request To Block Protests O… But here is what I think will be a taste of things to come: [...]
Pingback by Scientology second restraining order fails. - SLUniverse Forums — March 13, 2008 @ 7:22 pm
Beware the Ides of March.
Comment by kite — March 13, 2008 @ 8:53 pm
One of the things that really concerns me, is that if they keep up this paranoid nonsense, someday the police may stop taking these “bomb threats” seriously and not respond to scientologists if, or when it really counts.
I am sure the police would never EVER risk anyone’s safety in such a way, but there is only so much of this abuse of a system put in place for the safety of our citizens that can be tolerated.
THEY may not have to worry about OUR tax dollars being wasted on these sorts of things, but the rest of us do!
Comment by Kay — March 13, 2008 @ 9:15 pm
Kay’s concern is mine, too. Police and law enforcement are sufficient for normal operation. But, as in the old U.S.S.R., if a large percentage of the population is policing the rest, it costs too much and the society can fail. Potential death threats, bomb threats, (probably fake) anthrax mailings, etc. require actions from law enforcement. We are not set up to deal with many common citizens creating so much problem. And if things go far in that direction, it costs too much. The Church of Scientology isn’t attacking anyone, anyway. If you got an argument, use the established procedures.
Comment by Terryeo — March 13, 2008 @ 9:33 pm
Terryeo, the story of the boy who cried wolf is a story with a concept easy enough for a small CHILD to comprehend, yet it seems to elude the CoS.
This isn’t the doing of Anons, please keep “operation freakout” in mind! That was one big bad CoS created and well documented wolf!!!
Comment by Kay — March 13, 2008 @ 10:01 pm
Great article! It got me thinking. I posted here what I sent to the investigators of these current bomb threats in Tampa and in Battle Creek, MI:
To whom it may concern: ‘I want to make sure you are aware that the church has a documented history of faking bomb threats.’ http://tinyurl.com/2hbe38
Poor Terryeo must be getting so ‘enturbulated’, scieno lingo for upset. More and more facts get posted every day. Glosslip being a big help in that effort
Comment by Mary — March 14, 2008 @ 12:00 am
In the heightened Terry…(sorry, i’ll try to be serious) terror alert state this country is in, do scientologists really expect me to believe that some idiot would risk, pretty much his life to make a bomb threat to some stupid church? Why would anyone be crazy enough to go to such extreme measures when what anon has going with the protests is going so well?
Sheesh, I guess a little bit of peaceful protest pressure is all it really takes to get them to do THEMSELVES in.
Comment by liz — March 14, 2008 @ 1:01 am
Great story, sciwanks not getting their way always gives this Scot a buzz.
Comment by Garethw — March 14, 2008 @ 5:38 am
Watch these new videos that have been just released by the Co$, and keep in mind that both of the Co$’s injunctions were thrown out of court. This is harassment, intimidation, and slanderous. It’s operation freakout allover again. This is why this cult of greed and power must be stopped!
Link:
http://uk.youtube.com/user/AnonymousFacts
Comment by Governor — March 14, 2008 @ 1:24 pm
Real brave of the $cientologists to block comments and ratings on their vids, eh?
What a bunch of wankers.
Comment by Narcissus — March 14, 2008 @ 1:53 pm
Well, thankfully, it appears YouTube has come to its senses and removed the libelous trash.
Regardless, I think this everything happening is awesome—even the OSA-style trash that we’ve all come to expect and “love.” It shows that they’re imploding. No matter what they throw at Anon, it ends up exploding in their face like a cartoony exploding cigar.
So much for LRH’s classic “attack über alles” approach to public relations.
No matter. We’ll be here at New York, enjoying moar caek.
NYCanonNYC
Comment by NYCanonNYC — March 14, 2008 @ 3:34 pm
Awww Terryeo, you’ve earned yourself some notoriety and have become a meme. I am sincerely sorry this has happened to you. Fair game isn’t so great when you are on the wrong side of it, is it?
http://www.encyclopediadramatica.com/Terryeo
Comment by liz — March 15, 2008 @ 12:54 am