This isn't like Scientology, to be late on a chance to smear Leah Remini, right?
We will admit that we’re a little perplexed by this one, and so far we haven’t received answers about what’s going on.
But here’s what we know. Leah Remini sued the Church of Scientology in August 2023 to much fanfare. She was suing for years of smears and harassment by an organization known for the way it retaliates against former members who speak up.
And few people have spoken up like Leah. Her A&E series Scientology and the Aftermath won two Emmy awards and, for three seasons from 2016 to 2019, hammered the church for its controversies and abuses.
Scientology struck back, Leah said, with an unrelenting series of dirty tricks, invasive surveillance, and online smears in a classic “Fair Game” campaign, and it was harming her ability to make a living.
In court, Scientology argued that it was entitled to its opinion about Leah, that she had started the fight, and that she had no right to sue over its online attacks, even when they called her a bigot, a racist, and worse. Scientology asked the court to decimate Leah’s lawsuit with motions to strike.
Judge Randolph Hammock ruled that some of the allegations Leah were making did fall in the category of opinion, and didn’t meet the definition of defamation, and he threw out a number of her examples of online hate attacks. But he kept in all but one of her causes of action, refusing to gut the lawsuit as Scientology had asked.
Both sides were unhappy, and Scientology announced that it was removing Hammock as judge and appealing his ruling. That was nearly a year ago, and we’ve been patiently watching the docket at the 2nd Appellate Division of the California Court of Appeals to see what happens next.
But then a funny thing happened.
Scientology blew its deadline to file an appeal brief.
And not by a little.
In fact, according to the court docket, Scientology was supposed to have filed its brief, laying out its arguments for its appeal, back on February 6, and there’s no indication that they have filed anything yet.
We don’t know how significant this is. Perhaps TX Lawyer or another attorney will tell us this happens all the time. We can only say that in our 20-plus years of watching Scientology litigate cases, we’ve never seen anything like this.
David Miscavige, miss out on a chance to call Leah Remini and a Superior Court Judge names to a state appeals court, with the chance that he can ruin her lawsuit?
What’s taking him so long?
We’ll keep asking, but we thought you’d want to know that this is going on. It’s odd, isn’t it?
News from our friends Claudio and Renata Lugli
In 2013, we were very fortunate to get the chance to visit Claudio and Renata Lugli at their home in Brescia, Italy while we were on a family vacation.
Since then, we’ve told you about them numerous times: That they were tailors to Dave and Shelly Miscavige, making custom clothes for them for years while they were in Scientology. (It was Claudio who told us, based on making clothes for Dave, he could say with conviction that the Scientology leader is only 5-feet-1.) And we’ve written about how they lost their son Flavio to the Sea Org, and they never hear from him after he disconnected from them for speaking out.
When we visited them in 2013, there were almost no photos of Shelly Miscavige online. Just a poor quality photo from her wedding to Dave and that was about it. But Claudio and Renata had numerous amazing pictures of Shelly trying on their clothes, and we were thrilled to bring them back with us and publish them. Most of the photos you have probably seen of Shelly in the years since then were from the Luglis’ collection.
Anyway, we heard from them this week because Renata has written down her experiences in Scientology in a short book that has been translated to English, and she thought our readers would like to know about it.
Prisoner of Freedom: My 36 Years in the Scientology Cult is available now at Amazon.
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I don’t know the Supreme Court rules there but in Wyoming, here’s a story of a missed deadline.
Appeals brief was due 5pm on a set date.
As seems to be the case with most attorneys, the efiling of that brief was started at 4:30 pm on the due date. At 4:39pm, there was a citywide power outage. The back ups also failed. The brief was not filed until 8:12 pm when the power was restored. The filing was rejected.
It took a week of briefs to the judge to get permission to file the brief. We had a 3 hour window after the clerk called and told us we could refile.
That’s how it works in Wyoming. Not sure about CA law.
Look forward to reading Renate's book, thanks for mentioning it.
On the lack of pounce evident in the OSA legal team, I wonder if this is a money issue, since paying the Scientology side lawyers is always a money priority.
I wonder if the big bucks donors who could help pay OSA's legal lawyers' bills, have died down?
Money, on the paying the laywers' bills side.
And then, OSA Legal Bureau might be in in disarray and kerfluffled with Miscavige's omitted legal strategy orders, like Tony implies. (Maybe Miscavige's out-2D with his assistant is clouding his thinking, and since no one Sec Checks Miscavige to keep him in line to even unearth and clean him up of his out ethics 2D.)
OR, from the delusional positive view, maybe Miscavige wants to just give up the suit to Leah, which he ought do, just give in, pay her, and stop the OSA nastiness against ex's and critics.
But lawyer bills, or lawyer issues, or OSA legal bureau issues, all due to Miscavige's gaffe running and getting what he wants understood and done, most likely those are the factors for this spotted mistake.
If LRH were here, Miscavige and his assistant would be sec checked and RPFed.
But the big kahuna Hubbard hasn't "returned" (as in the Sea Org motto, "We Come Back", Hubbard ain't back yet for continuing duty to "Clear Earth"), so Scientology's deep false promises are eroding correctly Scientology's creaky nasty image.
I'm forever positive, I'm hoping OSA's neglect is the cause, as OSA disintegrates because no one wants to work there anymore, which everyone is correct in NOT aspiring to work in OSA.
Bills paying the lawyers, used to be an OSA job. Staffing in OSA might be the issue. Lawyers don't work for free. OSA weekly puts in their request for lawyers' bills paying to the coordinated Financial Planning committee at the "Int" level, such that Flag Service Org's weekly income gets divided up, and a huge bunch OSA gets to direct to pay the lawyers. THAT might be in disarray, currently, and lawyers are stalled doing stuff for Scientology's case against Leah.
Tom Cruise and rich diehards should be briefed by OSA when the funds are low and insufficient to pay the legal bills these lawyers need to do their Scientology legal dirty work.
My hindsight advice, is the rich donors ought to have been briefed starting in the early 1980s, of the legal problems, and get the lawyer pay out of the richest diehard Scientologists, and let OSA Treasury bureau have the power to meet and brief the rich Scientology donors, and get the lawyer bills covered. Make it easier to pay their lawyer bills, is all.
That's my ex ASI staffer million dollar advice to David Miscavige. Fix up the lawyer's payment line, re-establish a better lawyer paying line.