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Arnaldo Pagliarini Lerma (November 18, 1950 – March 16, 2018) was an American writer and
activist Activism consists of efforts to promote, impede, direct or intervene in social, political, economic or environmental reform with the desire to make changes in society toward a perceived common good. Forms of activism range from mandate build ...
, a former Scientologist, and a critic of the
Church of Scientology The Church of Scientology is a group of interconnected corporate entities and other organizations devoted to the practice, administration and dissemination of Scientology, which is variously defined as a cult, a business, or a new religiou ...
who appeared in television, media and radio interviews. Lerma was the first person to post the court document known as the
Fishman Affidavit The Fishman Affidavit is a set of court documents submitted by self-professed ex-Scientologist Steven Fishman in 1993 in the federal case, ''Church of Scientology International v. Fishman and Geertz'' (Case No. CV 91-6426 (HLH (Tx) United States ...
, including the
Xenu Xenu ( ), also called Xemu, is a figure in the Church of Scientology's secret "Advanced Technology", a sacred and esoteric teaching. According to the "Technology", Xenu was the extraterrestrial ruler of a "Galactic Confederacy" who brough ...
story, to the Internet via the
Usenet Usenet (), a portmanteau of User's Network, is a worldwide distributed discussion system available on computers. It was developed from the general-purpose UUCP, Unix-to-Unix Copy (UUCP) dial-up network architecture. Tom Truscott and Jim Elli ...
newsgroup alt.religion.scientology.


Biography

Lerma was born in
Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...
, in 1950.


Time in Scientology

Lerma started in
Scientology Scientology is a set of beliefs and practices invented by the American author L. Ron Hubbard, and an associated movement. It is variously defined as a scam, a Scientology as a business, business, a cult, or a religion. Hubbard initially develo ...
at the age of 16 at the urging of his mother who was the executive director of the Founding Church of Scientology Washington D.C. (FCDC). He had been impressed by the Church's exaggerated account of
L. Ron Hubbard Lafayette Ronald Hubbard (March 13, 1911 – January 24, 1986) was an American author and the founder of Scientology. A prolific writer of pulp science fiction and fantasy novels in his early career, in 1950 he authored the pseudoscie ...
's military career and scientific credentials. Lerma joined staff at FCDC and later in New York and was a course supervisor. Around 1970, he joined Scientology's
Sea Org The Sea Organization or Sea Org is the senior-most status of staff within the Church of Scientology network of corporations, but is not itself incorporated. In the 1960s and 1970s, the Sea Org was started as L. Ron Hubbard's private navy, and ...
and served for seven years, being paid $10 per week and sometimes surviving on peanut butter. During his time in Scientology, Lerma reached the level of
OT III In Scientology, Operating Thetan (OT) is a state of complete spiritual freedom in which one is a "willing and knowing cause over life, thought, matter, energy, space and time". The Church of Scientology offers eight "levels" of OT, each level cos ...
. In 1976 he met Hubbard's daughter Suzette. Lerma became romantically involved and they planned to elope. Their relationship was discovered and Lerma was threatened with physical harm if he did not cancel the marriage plans. Lerma quit Scientology soon afterward.


Internet activities

Lerma said he didn't want to destroy Scientology, but he wanted a change of management. In the early internet, Arnie Lerma posted in the internet newsgroups " alt.religion.scientology" and " alt.clearing.technology", including posting public records from court cases involving the Church of Scientology. He scanned and posted documents he obtained, many of which were sent to him, including court documents known as the Fishman Affidavit or Fishman Declaration from the case '' Church of Scientology International v. Fishman and Geertz''.


Scientology sues Lerma over copyrights

After Lerma posted the Fishman Affidavit in August 1995, his home was raided by
federal marshal The United States Marshals Service (USMS) is a federal law enforcement agency in the United States. The Marshals Service serves as the enforcement and security arm of the U.S. federal judiciary. It is an agency of the U.S. Department of Jus ...
s, led by lawyers from the
Church of Scientology The Church of Scientology is a group of interconnected corporate entities and other organizations devoted to the practice, administration and dissemination of Scientology, which is variously defined as a cult, a business, or a new religiou ...
, 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 Copyright infringement (at times referred to as piracy) is the use of Copyright#Scope, works protected by copyright without permission for a usage where such permission is required, thereby infringing certain exclusive rights granted to the c ...
and
trade secret A trade secret is a form of intellectual property (IP) comprising confidential information that is not generally known or readily ascertainable, derives economic value from its secrecy, and is protected by reasonable efforts to maintain its conf ...
misappropriation. ''
The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...
'' 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 United States District Judge
Leonie Brinkema Leonie Helen Milhomme Brinkema (born June 26, 1944) is a federal district judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia. Early life and education She was born as Leonie Milhomme in Teaneck, New Jersey, and was r ...
ruled in a memorandum on November 28, 1995 The 1995
memorandum opinion Under United States legal practice, a memorandum opinion is usually unpublished and cannot be cited as precedent. It is formally defined as: " unanimous appellate opinion that succinctly states the decision of the court; an opinion that briefly re ...
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 to RTC damages in the statutory minimum of $2,500 ($500 for each of five instances of non-willful copyright violation) for posting online a substantial portion of a copyrighted work "without comment, criticism, or other significant changes that could constitute fair use". The court also ordered the return to Lerma of his computer and all items seized in the ex parte search which was supposed to be narrowly limited.


Lermanet

In 1997, Arnie Lerma started a website at lermanet.com, which concentrated on news about Scientology and on documenting lawsuits by Scientology. He was also noted for discovering an altered picture on a Scientology website on New Year's Eve in 1999, one that appeared to inflate the number of members attending a millennial event at the Los Angeles Sports Arena in California. He posted the pictures to his website identifying the alterations, with the most prominent feature being the "man with no head". The story appeared on national television and in the press. On March 28, 2019, in an attempt to reunite with her adult children who were still in the Church of Scientology but forbidden contact with her, Lerma's widow Ginger Sugerman attempted to 'deliver a blow to the enemies of Scientology' by deleting all the webpages of Lermanet.com in the hopes that the Church would allow her to reconnect with her children. The deletion failed to achieve her goal of reuniting her family. In late 2019, the entire website reappeared under the domain lermanet.org (a domain formerly used for a defamation website against Arnie Lerma), and Lerma's blog reappeared as arnielerma.blog. A few months later lermanet.com was restored.


Death and legacy

Arnie Lerma had been suffering with severe back pain for decades, despite two surgeries, and had become addicted to opioids and was increasingly paranoid. On March 16, 2018, Arnie Lerma shot his wife Ginger Sugerman twice in the face at their home in
Sylvania, Georgia Sylvania is a city in and the county seat of Screven County, Georgia, Screven County, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia, United States. The population was 2,634 in 2020. History The area was inhabited for thousands of years by various cultures of ind ...
, and after she fled he committed suicide by gunshot. Sugerman survived but went through six surgeries and depression. Ginger Sugerman died in 2022.


Writings


''The Internet is the Liberty Tree of the 90s''
1996


References


Further reading

* * * * * * * * *


External links


lermanet.com

arnielerma.blog''Church of Scientology protects secrets on the Internet''
CNN, Washington, August 26, 1995

dated September 6, 1995.
''Brinkema, Leonie M. Civil Action No. 95-1107-A: Memorandum Opinion''
Alexandria: US District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia-Alexandria Division, November 28, 1995

by Wendy Grossman, Wired Magazine, December, 1995
Noted Scientology critic Arnie Lerma shoots and injures wife, then kills himself
by Tony Ortega, The Underground Bunker, March 18, 2018 {{DEFAULTSORT:Lerma, Arnaldo 1950 births 2018 deaths Critics of Scientology Scientology and law American former Scientologists People from Washington, D.C. Scientology and the Internet American whistleblowers Suicides by firearm in Georgia (U.S. state) Former Scientology officials