Gerry Armstrong (activist)

Gerry Armstrong
Armstrong on November 8, 2008
Born	Gerald Armstrong (1946-10-18) October 18, 1946 United States

Gerald "Gerry" Armstrong is a former member of the Church of Scientology and a critic since 1984. He left the Church in 1981.

Scientology Career

Armstrong joined the Sea Organization of the Church of Scientology in the 1970's and was a crewmember about the Sea Org vessel Apollo, where L. Ron Hubbard lived until 1975. When the Sea Organization became land-based in 1975 Armstrong worked in the Communications branch of Church Management.

In 1977 he worked with Hubbard when Hubbard was making Scientology training films. Following this he worked in Hubbard's domestic Household Unit, in a non-management role.

Theft of L. Ron Hubbard's personal papers

In 1980, the Church assigned Armstrong to the Public Relations Office, at Gilman Hot Springs to organize some personal papers of L. Ron Hubbard that were to serve as the basis of a new biography of Hubbard. A non-Scientologist, Omar Garrison, had been hired to write the book. As part of his assignment, Armstrong also requested Hubbard's war records from the Navy and his transcripts from George Washington University. Upon reading through Hubbard's archives Armstrong came to learn of conflicts in the information between what Hubbard had stated and what was documented. This ultimately let to Young's questioning the intent and character of Hubbard and the Church he had founded. Armstrong walked away from the Church in 1981, illegally taking much of the Hubbard archive materials with him prompting the Church to seek legal recourse to retrieve the stolen material.

After leaving

Years after leaving the Church Armstrong became a Scientology apostate, stating that he had found God, as stated in each of his subsequent court affidavits.

Lawsuits

The theft of Hubbard-related documents from the Church by Armstrong prompted a lawsuit in 1984, Church of Scientology of California vs. Gerald Armstrong. The decision in the case, by Judge Paul Breckenridge, found that Armstrong's fears of persecution by the Church were reasonable, and thus his conduct in turning over the documents in his possession to his attorney was also reasonable:

"... the court is satisfied the invasion was slight, and the reasons and justification for the defendant's conduct manifest. Defendant was told by Scientology to get an attorney. He was declared an enemy by the Church. He believed, reasonably, that he was subject to "fair game." The only way he could defend himself, his integrity, and his wife was to take that which was available to him and place it in a safe harbor, to wit, his lawyer's custody." (Judge Paul Breckenridge, Los Angeles Superior Court, June 20, 1984)

This 1984 judgment that Armstrong's transfer of documents of the Church of Scientology International (CSI) to his attorney was justified was affirmed seven years later in Church of Scientology v. Gerald Armstrong.

In December 1986, the parties entered into a settlement agreement under which CSI paid Armstrong $800,000 in exchange for his dismissal of claims against CSI and the return of the stolen documents. Armstrong agreed to not publish orally or in writing any information about his experience with CSI, and that he would be liable for $50,000 for each breach of confidentiality.

Armstrong failed to uphold his agreement and on October 17, 1995, a California court concluded that Armstrong had breached the agreement and awarded CSI $321,932 in damages and $334,671.75 in court costs. The court also enjoined Armstrong from assisting others with lawsuits against CSI.

Despite losing the court cases Armstrong continued to violate the agreement by becoming involved in an assisting litigants with lawsuits against CSI and posting information about CSI on the Internet. He was taken to court a further three times for violating his court settlement; in June 1997, in February 1998, and again in December 2000. Each time the courts found Armstrong in contempt of its previous order and in violation of his settlement agreement. These violations resulted in $3,600 in fines and an order that he be confined in jail for 26 days. However, Armstrong claimed to be living in British Columbia, Canada, never showed up for court, and was never captured and confined.

On April 2, 2002, CSI again sued Armstrong for $10,050,000 for further breaches of his settlement agreement. Armstrong admitted that he had breached the agreement more than 200 times, but used the excuse that parts of the agreement were "illegal", "unconstitutional" and "unenforceable."

At his trial on April 9, 2004, the court found that 131 breaches of the agreement did occur, but found that it would be unconscionable to “punish” Armstrong with liquidated damages in excess of the $800,000 he received as a benefit under the settlement agreement. Noting that Armstrong had previously been “sanctioned” in the sum of $300,000, the court entered judgment for CSI in the amount of $500,000.

Despite the numerous court cases Armstrong's serial offending has not ceased and he continues to act as an "expert" about historical Scientology and L. Ron Hubbard for monetary gain.

See also

• Scientology controversies

Further reading

• "Mystery of the Vanished Ruler". TIME. 1983-01-31. Retrieved 2007-08-25.
• Koff, Stephen (1998-12-22). "Scientology church faces new claims of harassment". St. Petersburg Times. Retrieved 2007-08-19.
• Livesey, Bruce (June 23, 2008). "Scientology's Holy War: Bruce Livesey Investigates How Former Inner-Sanctum Member Gerry Armstrong Became the Salman Rushdie of Scientology". Maisonneuve Magazine. Archived from the original on June 13, 2011. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
• Scientology’s Crumbling: Can Gerry Armstrong Begin to Think of Crossing the Border?—Accessed 03/Aug/2013

External links

• Gerry Armstrong's web site, including archives related to his ongoing legal conflicts with the Church of Scientology
• Memorandum of Intended Decision in Church of Scientology of California vs. Gerald Armstrong (PDF format) (Transcription)