An interesting story from FACTNet (a website trying to stop high control, brainwashing groups).
"Brainwashing a crime in California? If it's not here it should be!
FACTNet news editors note: It is truly my pleasure to introduce a Knight in the fight against destructive high control groups. Especially one who is more then talk. You can talk the “Cult Phenomenon” to death like the academia love to do or you can bare arms against a sea of troubles and by opposing them at least they feel the sting of laws broken and finances lost. I personally as an ex-member applaud you and cheer out “Onward” because there is another standing right behind the one you just knocked down…
Paul Morantz is an attorney at law specializing in the prosecution of fanatical cults or religious leaders. He is most recognized for his cases against Synanon, a drug rehabilitation group in the 1970s, which attempted to kill Morantz and derail his efforts to rescue members of the group. Since then, Morantz has continued practicing law specializing in the prosecution of those whose victims claim to have been brainwashed. Morantz served as pro bono appellate counsel in Molko vs. Unification Church in 1988, which became the first case where the California Supreme Court recognized brainwashing as a criminal action and allowed victims the right to sue for damages.
Morantz wrote the story for the 1978 television movie Deadman’s Curve, based on the lives of Jan and Dean. The original story Morantz wrote was published in Rolling Stone Magazine in 1974 and was scheduled to be the cover, but Nixon resigned soon after and the story was pushed off the cover. Morantz also has published an article in the Los Angeles Times about John Walker Lindh, the American man caught fighting with the Taliban. The article is an argument for understanding some of the psychological mechanisms which may have led to Lindh joining the Taliban and raises the question of whether he may have been brainwashed.
[edit] Attempted murder conspiracy
On October 10, 1978, Morantz was bitten by a rattlesnake which had been placed in his mailbox by members of the drug rehabilitation institution, Synanon. Two members of the organization had cut the rattle off of the snake and placed it in Morantz’s Pacific Palisades home. Neighbors had reported seeing a suspicious vehicle making rounds near Morantz’s home and reported the license number to the police. The police found that the license plate had been registered to an address at Synanon and an officer checked the grounds at Morantz’s house, but found nothing out of the ordinary and no one informed Morantz of the activity. Upon returning home, Morantz was bitten on the wrist as he grabbed for the mail. Morantz stumbled outside and yelled for help from neighbors who quickly came to his assistance and called for an ambulance. Morantz was rushed to the Santa Monica Emergency Room where anti-venom could be administered and was subsequently transferred to the Los Angeles County-USC Medical Center where he made a recovery over the next several days.
Months earlier, Charles Dederich, founder of the Synanon program, had made recorded announcements over the internal P.A. system at Synanon’s compounds. These announcements made mention of enemies of Synanon and encouraged acts of violence towards them and their families. Dederich specifically mentioned targeting lawyers such as Morantz in these speeches. After the attack on Morantz, Synanon’s compound in Badger, Tulare County was searched and authorities recovered the tape recordings of these speeches. Dederich and the two members of Synanon who had carried out the attack were arrested and pleaded no-contest to conspiracy to commit murder. Instrumental in the exposure of the Synanon conspiracies was the local newspaper, Point Reyes Light, whose work on Synanon won the 1979 Pulitzer Prize for Meritorious Public Service. In 1991, Synanon’s doors closed as a result of a successful tax lawsuit which concluded that Synanon was not entitled to its charitable tax free basis as it had been attacking people in violation of public policy. Morantz assisted the Department of Justice with this case. -http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Morantz
Pauls website…http://www.paulmorantz.com/"
FACTNet news editors note: It is truly my pleasure to introduce a Knight in the fight against destructive high control groups. Especially one who is more then talk. You can talk the “Cult Phenomenon” to death like the academia love to do or you can bare arms against a sea of troubles and by opposing them at least they feel the sting of laws broken and finances lost. I personally as an ex-member applaud you and cheer out “Onward” because there is another standing right behind the one you just knocked down…
Paul Morantz is an attorney at law specializing in the prosecution of fanatical cults or religious leaders. He is most recognized for his cases against Synanon, a drug rehabilitation group in the 1970s, which attempted to kill Morantz and derail his efforts to rescue members of the group. Since then, Morantz has continued practicing law specializing in the prosecution of those whose victims claim to have been brainwashed. Morantz served as pro bono appellate counsel in Molko vs. Unification Church in 1988, which became the first case where the California Supreme Court recognized brainwashing as a criminal action and allowed victims the right to sue for damages.
Morantz wrote the story for the 1978 television movie Deadman’s Curve, based on the lives of Jan and Dean. The original story Morantz wrote was published in Rolling Stone Magazine in 1974 and was scheduled to be the cover, but Nixon resigned soon after and the story was pushed off the cover. Morantz also has published an article in the Los Angeles Times about John Walker Lindh, the American man caught fighting with the Taliban. The article is an argument for understanding some of the psychological mechanisms which may have led to Lindh joining the Taliban and raises the question of whether he may have been brainwashed.
[edit] Attempted murder conspiracy
On October 10, 1978, Morantz was bitten by a rattlesnake which had been placed in his mailbox by members of the drug rehabilitation institution, Synanon. Two members of the organization had cut the rattle off of the snake and placed it in Morantz’s Pacific Palisades home. Neighbors had reported seeing a suspicious vehicle making rounds near Morantz’s home and reported the license number to the police. The police found that the license plate had been registered to an address at Synanon and an officer checked the grounds at Morantz’s house, but found nothing out of the ordinary and no one informed Morantz of the activity. Upon returning home, Morantz was bitten on the wrist as he grabbed for the mail. Morantz stumbled outside and yelled for help from neighbors who quickly came to his assistance and called for an ambulance. Morantz was rushed to the Santa Monica Emergency Room where anti-venom could be administered and was subsequently transferred to the Los Angeles County-USC Medical Center where he made a recovery over the next several days.
Months earlier, Charles Dederich, founder of the Synanon program, had made recorded announcements over the internal P.A. system at Synanon’s compounds. These announcements made mention of enemies of Synanon and encouraged acts of violence towards them and their families. Dederich specifically mentioned targeting lawyers such as Morantz in these speeches. After the attack on Morantz, Synanon’s compound in Badger, Tulare County was searched and authorities recovered the tape recordings of these speeches. Dederich and the two members of Synanon who had carried out the attack were arrested and pleaded no-contest to conspiracy to commit murder. Instrumental in the exposure of the Synanon conspiracies was the local newspaper, Point Reyes Light, whose work on Synanon won the 1979 Pulitzer Prize for Meritorious Public Service. In 1991, Synanon’s doors closed as a result of a successful tax lawsuit which concluded that Synanon was not entitled to its charitable tax free basis as it had been attacking people in violation of public policy. Morantz assisted the Department of Justice with this case. -http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Morantz
Pauls website…http://www.paulmorantz.com/"
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