Arnie Lerma
| Arnie Lerma | |
|---|---|
| Born | November 18, 1950 |
| Residence | Alexandria, Virginia |
| Occupation | A/V technician |
Arnaldo (Arnie) Pagliarini Lerma (born November 18, 1950) is an American writer and activist, a former Scientologist, and critic of Scientology, who has appeared in television, media and radio interviews. Lerma was the first person to post the court document known as the Fishman Affidavit, including the Xenu story, to the internet via the Usenet newsgroup alt.religion.scientology.
Lerma started in Scientology at the age of 16 at the urging of his mother, an executive director for the Washington, DC church. He was impressed by L. Ron Hubbard's exaggerated account of his military career and scientific credentials. Lerma joined Scientology's Sea Org and was assigned in 1976 to a post working alongside Hubbard's daughter Suzette. He claims they became romantically involved and planned to elope, though others have disputed this. Lerma alleges that other Sea Org officers discovered their plans and threatened to mutilate him if he did not cancel the marriage. Lerma quit Scientology soon afterward.
After Lerma posted the Fishman Affidavit in August 1995, his home was raided by federal marshals and lawyers from the Church of Scientology, alleging he was in possession of copyrighted documents. A lawsuit was filed against Lerma and his Internet service provider by the church's Religious Technology Center, (RTC), claiming copyright infringement and trade secret misappropriation.
The Washington Post and two investigative reporters were added to the lawsuit, as an article written about the raid contained three brief quotes from Scientology "Advanced Technology" documents. The Washington Post, et al. were released from the suit when USDJ Leonie Brinkema ruled in a memorandum on November 28, 1995:
The Memorandum Opinion acknowledges what Scientology practices to this day: the "Fair Game" policy, a written directive by L. Ron Hubbard that encourages harassment of anyone who speaks out against the church. In conclusion, the court awarded RTC the statutory minimum of $2,500 for five instances of non-willful copyright violation.
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