Paul Morantz
Encyclopedia
Paul Morantz is an attorney at law
specializing in the prosecution of fanatical
cult
s, religious or otherwise, and their leaders for harmful conduct. He is most recognized for his cases against Synanon
, a behavior modification
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 suffer through the undue influence
of coercive persuasion. 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 wrongful and harmful tort, and allowed victims the right to sue
for damages.
Morantz is also a freelance writer and investigative journalist, who wrote the story for the 1978 television movie Deadman's Curve
, based on the lives of surf singers 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.
, graduated Hamilton Highschool at age seventeen, and served in the United States Army
in 1963 for six months as a reservist
. After the Army, Morantz first attended Santa Monica City College then continued on at University of Southern California
(USC) in 1965 as a journalism
major.
A lifelong football fan, Morantz became a sportswriter for the Daily Trojan
after transferring to USC. In 1967 he interviewed a new JC football
transfer and published a story entitled "O.J is Here" that was O. J. Simpson
's first Los Angeles
interview. Later that year Morantz became co-sports editor of the Daily Trojan along with Lance Spiegel.
In 1968, the Los Angeles Times
asked to hire Paul Morantz as a sportswriter but he opted to go to law school
instead. Amidst a variety of odd jobs during his years at law school, Morantz took a position writing for the Pigskin Review that kept him close to his first love - college football
. He also played for USC Law School in the basketball
intramural league
, his team "The Bailors" winning the USC championship. He later took up beach volleyball
and won several trophies.
After graduating from USC School of Law
in 1971, Paul Morantz became a Los Angeles
public defender
in 1972. He left the public defender's office in 1973, then worked part-time as both a lawyer and writer. During which time he developed his feature-length article
on surf singers Jan and Dean
that was later published in Rolling Stone magazine, and wrote the story for the made-for-television movie.
Although Morantz states that his early years following his days at USC were filled with indecision regarding whether he wanted to pursue writing versus practicing law, his ultimate career path combined the two fields. When he received a phone call from his brother in 1974 about a Nursing home kidnapping case Morantz used both investigative reporting skills and the law to prove the conspiracy
. This early case brought Morantz public attention and led to his fourteen year battle against the Synanon
cult starting in 1977, in which he again did the investigation. Morantz's next investigation
in 1978 was focused on Werner Erhard
, and the est Training
attempt to dominate a small town near Fresno
led Morantz to assist with putting a stop to it and preventing an Erhard plan to train the Los Angeles Police Department
. In 1979, he represented victims against the estate of the Peoples Temple
. From that point forward, Mr. Morantz's specialty was based on investigating and litigating cases involving brainwashing, a field he basically pioneered.
Throughout his subsequent years of litigating a wide range of destructive cults, Paul Morantz eventually came to share a common belief with others on several sides of the multifaceted cult battles that education
rather than litigation should be the first defense of religious and intellectual liberty. Twenty years later he returned to writing.
alcoholics and sell them to nursing homes where they were kept sedated with Thorazine while the state was billed through Medical/Medicare
and their social security
checks taken. Los Angeles County supervisors called for a four point probe on January 23, 1975 after hearing testimony that patients were often sedated, their ability to communicate with anyone outside the institution restricted, and detained in facilities behind locked gates and barbed wire if they tried to leave.
The public hearings held before the Board included testimony from former patients and institutional employees, with Supervisor Kenneth Hahn stating that he was "shocked" at the disclosures because "it's a terrible example of man's inhumanity to man, we can't whitewash this."
Morantz filed a class action
lawsuit
on behalf of the former patients, testified on nursing home abuses during the public hearings and aided in the creation of a district attorney
task force
on nursing home crimes.
institution Synanon
in 1977, it had the reputation as a seemingly successful program for rehabilitating drug addicts where existing traditional hospitals had failed. It’s founder, Charles Dederich, an ex-alcoholic, established it in 1958 as a non-medical
self-help
program that included the "Game," a session in which participants acted out hostilities and sought the truth about themselves while not being bound by the truth in making critical attacks on each other. Synanon claimed it had cured thousands but by 1967 Dederich turned the organization into a "lifestyle" by recruiting non-addicts ("Squares") and building cities in Marin County, then Tulare County and eventually Lake Havasu
.
In 1974 Synanon declared itself a religion and centered on middle-class searching for utopia rather than addict curing. By then Synanon's assets, including real estate, ten aircraft, 400 cars, trucks and motorcycles, totaled around $33 million. Its advertising and specialty-gifts business netted $2.4 million in 1976 while donations and other income added another $5.5 million. Rules were passed mandating non-smoking, dieting, exercise programs, group marriages, shaved heads, vasectomies, abortions and exchanging mates. Approximately 200 couples “changed partners.” Members were trained in "Syndo" (Martial arts
) with the elite placed in the Imperial Marines who were trained to and did commit violence against their enemies. Dederich became a rich man.
By 1977 Morantz was warning government authorities Dederich was mandating violence
against its enemies ("a reign of terror") and filing lawsuits on behalf of ex-members and victims. Morantz would later state in 1985, that he was among 50 victims of a Synanon "reign of terror" from 1975 to 1978.
On October 10, 1978, Paul Morantz was bitten by a rattlesnake
which had been placed in his Pacific Palisades home mailbox by two members of the Synanon
Imperial Marines, Lance Kenton and Joe Musico. A neighbor applied a tourniquet that saved Morantz’s life. Arriving fire department
paramedics chopped off the snake's head with a shovel, and discovered that the rattles had been removed so that the snake could attack without warning.
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
in Visalia, California
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 then subsequently transferred to the Los Angeles County-USC Medical Center
where he made a recovery over the next several days.
The attack occurred three weeks after Morantz won a $300,000 judgment against the member organization on behalf of a married couple who claimed the wife had been held captive and subjected to brainwashing by Synanon members.
Earlier, Charles Dederich, founder of the Synanon
program, had made recorded announcements over the internal P.A. system that played in all Synanon's compounds called "The Wire." 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. Included was Sept. 5, 1977 tape of Dederich's explaining, "Our religious posture is don't mess with us. You can get killed, dead, physically dead... We're not going to permit people like greedy lawyers to destroy us. I'm quite willing to break some lawyers' legs and tell them that next time I'll break your wife's legs and then I'll cut your kid's arm off."
After the attack on Morantz, Synanon's compound in Badger, Tulare County was searched and authorities recovered the tape recordings of these speeches. Dederich was drunk in Lake Havasu when he was taken into custody. All who were arrested plead no-contest to conspiracy to commit murder. Instrumental in the exposure of the Synanon conspiracies was the local newspaper, Point Reyes Light, where David V. Mitchell
's work on Synanon won the 1979 Pulitzer Prize
for Meritorious Public Service
.
In 1991, Synanon's doors closed as a result of a successful Federal tax evasion
lawsuit, which concluded that Synanon
was not entitled to its past tax-exempt charitable status as it had been attacking people
in violation of public policy
. Morantz assisted the United States Department of Justice
with the investigation
and prosecution of this case.
whom after nine years rebelled against the Center, leading to its closure in 1980. Many of its former members later sued the founding therapists in what was then the largest psychology
malpractice
lawsuit in California
history. The Center, a product of the Human Potential Movement
, splintered from Primal Therapy
, and was led by Richard "Riggs" Corriere and Joseph Hart who referred to themselves as the "Butch Cassidy and Sundance kid of Psychotherapy
" and as the "New Freuds." It also resulted in the removal of many of their therapists licenses.
The Center was heavy into recruitment
and coincidentally they attempted to recruit Morantz who was taken to an open house in 1978 by two Center women who had sold him office plants.
Morantz was introduced to patients at a restaurant in Hollywood who he believed wanted to instantly "love me
." He later recounted it didn’t take long for him to see that this was actual recruitment. Two years later his first two Center clients contacted for Morantz help. Physical brutality
and sexual abuse
occurred plus class divisions, race derogation, rejection of parents and use of humiliating assignments intended to submit members to Center control. Morantz stated "I kind of felt that that day I had been there for a reason."
During the course of litigation, the California court of appeals in Rains v. Superior Court (Center for Feeling Therapy Psychological Corp.) ruled in Morantz’s favor that the Center’s use of physical punching
("Sluggo therapy") could be the basis for a battery claim despite patient consent to being hit, because of allegations the therapists made that patients being struck was good therapy while concealing the therapists’ true intent to use slugging as a method of control over the patients.
Seven years after the therapeutic community
ended, Corriere and Hart’s licenses were removed, ending the longest, costliest and most complex psychotherapy malpractice license revocation in California history. Four psychologists were found guilty of acts of gross negligence
, incompetence, patient abuse
, aiding and abetting the unlicensed practice of psychology
and false advertising after a 94-day hearing before Administrative Law Judge Robert A. Neher.
Neher wrote the center therapists publicized themselves as the world’s premier therapists in order "to solicit money, sex or free labor from patients" and to coerce them into "obsessive devotion,” ruling: "By any definition it was a cult." Twelve therapists lost or surrendered their licenses. After the revocation hearings, Morantz lamented the state system is so inefficient "that it has taken seven years to halt these people's ability to harm others."
in 1988, along with another anti-cult lawyer, Ford Greene
, wherein the California Supreme Court determined consistent with the free exercise clause of the First Amendment to the United States Constitution
and of article I, section 4, of the California Constitution
, former members of a religious organization may sue that organization on various causes of action arising out of its allegedly deceptive recruitment practices.
The court held the act of Brainwashing was outrageous conduct and victims could recover civil and punitive damages for its application. Unification Church
members were accused of denying their religious affiliation in order to lure prospective recruits to camps where there beliefs could be psychologically manipulated through behavior modification
techniques.
with his patients as an aid to their psychological and spiritual life. As a result, the pastor/therapist of Park View Christian Fellowship in California
lost his license to practice psychotherapy
as well as the right to be involved in his church’s pre-school.
A decade later Morantz again represented another six adults and five former students in a 1996 civil lawsuit
against Gottuso, his church and its private school. The suit for sexual abuse
and psychological abuse
was settled in March 1998 for $3,200,000.
The later civil action stated Gottuso used sex to bind his followers into a cult devoted to him with allegations of Gottuso verbally abusing members, with sexually explicit street language and preaching/counseling they could only be free through uninhibited sexual participation. Minor female students claimed Gottuso would pinch breasts, intimately hug and kiss them and watch as they disrobed at his orders.
A month after the settlement, Gottuso came up for sentencing in a Pasadena
, California
after he pleaded no contest
to demonstrating a sex act with a 15-year-old girl in late 1995 in front of a class at his Christ-Bridge Academy. Sixteen of his past victims came to watch the sentencing on the misdemeanor
charge, and Gottuso was placed on house arrest
.
Although the victim of the 1995 case was not Paul Morantz’s client, she allowed him to speak on her behalf at the sentencing. After the criminal case proceedings, Morantz said, "We as a state owe the public some protection... to make sure that no one with this kind of track' record can teach in private schools."
Following the case, California
passed related legislation prohibiting private school
teachers who by their past actions could not teach in public schools.
, Peoples Temple
, Hare Krishnas, Rajneesh movement
and other controversial cult
s. Morantz has also worked alongside of anti-cult
attorney at law
Ford Greene
and Los Angeles County class action lawsuit king Thomas Girardi
.
Many of his cases included collaborating with thought reform
experts Margaret Singer
, Louis Jolyon West
and others with notable mentions of his work defending cult victims published in Singer's Cults in Our Midst and Recovery from Cults by Michael Langone
. Additionally, Mr. Morantz helped write the California law setting forth requirements under which a religious organization could be sued for punitive damages
.
In Hall v. Great Western Bank (1991) 231 Cal. App. 3d 713 [282 Cal.Rptr. 640] Morantz argued successfully banks could not fire employees for reasons that would violate public policy
. His address to the court stated "We believe this rationale applies with even greater strength where, as in this case, a termination of employment
in violation of public policy has been alleged. Appellant's complaint alleges, in essence, a retaliatory firing resulting from her refusal to withdraw her valid claim for partial unemployment benefits"
Additionally, Paul Morantz has lectured publicly and counseled law enforcement agencies on the mindset of crusading terrorists. Morantz also taught a class at the University of Southern California
on the subject of all kinds of undue influences
, where his legal files are being archived.
Screenplays
Presentations
Media
Attorney at law
An attorney at law in the United States is a practitioner in a court of law who is legally qualified to prosecute and defend actions in such court on the retainer of clients. Alternative terms include counselor and lawyer...
specializing in the prosecution of fanatical
Religious fanaticism
Religious fanaticism is fanaticism related to a person's, or a group's, devotion to a religion. However, religious fanaticism is a subjective evaluation defined by the culture context that is performing the evaluation. What constitutes fanaticism in another's behavior or belief is determined by the...
cult
Cult
The word cult in current popular usage usually refers to a group whose beliefs or practices are considered abnormal or bizarre. The word originally denoted a system of ritual practices...
s, religious or otherwise, and their leaders for harmful conduct. He is most recognized for his cases against Synanon
Synanon
The Synanon organization, initially a drug rehabilitation program, was founded by Charles E. "Chuck" Dederich, Sr., in 1958, in Santa Monica, California, United States...
, a behavior modification
Behavior modification
Behavior modification is the use of empirically demonstrated behavior change techniques to increase or decrease the frequency of behaviors, such as altering an individual's behaviors and reactions to stimuli through positive and negative reinforcement of adaptive behavior and/or the reduction of...
drug rehabilitation
Drug rehabilitation
Drug rehabilitation is a term for the processes of medical or psychotherapeutic treatment, for dependency on psychoactive substances such as alcohol, prescription drugs, and so-called street drugs such as cocaine, heroin or amphetamines...
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 suffer through the undue influence
Undue influence
Undue influence is an equitable doctrine that involves one person taking advantage of a position of power over another person. It is where free will to bargain is not possible.-Undue influence in contract law:...
of coercive persuasion. Morantz served as pro bono
Pro bono
Pro bono publico is a Latin phrase generally used to describe professional work undertaken voluntarily and without payment or at a reduced fee as a public service. It is common in the legal profession and is increasingly seen in marketing, technology, and strategy consulting firms...
appellate counsel in Molko vs. Unification Church
Unification Church
The Unification Church is a new religious movement founded by Korean religious leader Sun Myung Moon. In 1954, the Unification Church was formally and legally established in Seoul, South Korea, as The Holy Spirit Association for the Unification of World Christianity . In 1994, Moon gave the church...
in 1988, which became the first case where the California Supreme Court recognized brainwashing as a wrongful and harmful tort, and allowed victims the right to sue
Lawsuit
A lawsuit or "suit in law" is a civil action brought in a court of law in which a plaintiff, a party who claims to have incurred loss as a result of a defendant's actions, demands a legal or equitable remedy. The defendant is required to respond to the plaintiff's complaint...
for damages.
Morantz is also a freelance writer and investigative journalist, who wrote the story for the 1978 television movie Deadman's Curve
Deadman's Curve
Deadman's Curve is a 1978 made for TV film based on the musical careers of Jan Berry and Dean Torrence. Developed from a 1974 article published in the Rolling Stone magazine by Paul Morantz, who also helped write the screenplay.-Plot:...
, based on the lives of surf singers Jan and Dean
Jan and Dean
Jan and Dean were a rock and roll duo, popular from the late 1950s through the mid 1960s, consisting of William Jan Berry and Dean Ormsby Torrence...
. 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
John Walker Lindh
John Phillip Walker Lindh is a United States citizen who was captured as an enemy combatant during the United States' 2001 invasion of Afghanistan. He is now serving a 20-year prison sentence in connection with his participation in Afghanistan's Taliban army...
, 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.
Education
- B.A., University of Southern CaliforniaUniversity of Southern CaliforniaThe University of Southern California is a private, not-for-profit, nonsectarian, research university located in Los Angeles, California, United States. USC was founded in 1880, making it California's oldest private research university...
School of Journalism, 1968 - J.D., University of Southern California School of Law, 1971
- Licensed to practice law in California, 1972
Early life and career
Paul Morantz was born and raised in Southern CaliforniaSouthern California
Southern California is a megaregion, or megapolitan area, in the southern area of the U.S. state of California. Large urban areas include Greater Los Angeles and Greater San Diego. The urban area stretches along the coast from Ventura through the Southland and Inland Empire to San Diego...
, graduated Hamilton Highschool at age seventeen, and served in the United States Army
United States Army
The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...
in 1963 for six months as a reservist
Reservist
A reservist is a person who is a member of a military reserve force. They are otherwise civilians, and in peacetime have careers outside the military. Reservists usually go for training on an annual basis to refresh their skills. This person is usually a former active-duty member of the armed...
. After the Army, Morantz first attended Santa Monica City College then continued on at University of Southern California
University of Southern California
The University of Southern California is a private, not-for-profit, nonsectarian, research university located in Los Angeles, California, United States. USC was founded in 1880, making it California's oldest private research university...
(USC) in 1965 as a journalism
Journalism
Journalism is the practice of investigation and reporting of events, issues and trends to a broad audience in a timely fashion. Though there are many variations of journalism, the ideal is to inform the intended audience. Along with covering organizations and institutions such as government and...
major.
A lifelong football fan, Morantz became a sportswriter for the Daily Trojan
Daily Trojan
The Daily Trojan, or "DT," is the student newspaper of the University of Southern California. The newspaper is a forum for student expression and is written, edited, and managed by university students. The paper is intended to inform USC students, faculty, and staff on the latest news and provide...
after transferring to USC. In 1967 he interviewed a new JC football
Jc
JC may refer to:*Slang reference to Jesus Christ*"JC" , a 1996 song by Powderfinger*JC virus, a type of human polyomavirus*The Jewish Chronicle, a national British Jewish newspaper*Junior college, a type of two-year school of higher education...
transfer and published a story entitled "O.J is Here" that was O. J. Simpson
O. J. Simpson
Orenthal James "O. J." Simpson , nicknamed "The Juice", is a retired American collegiate and professional football player, football broadcaster, and actor...
's first Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
interview. Later that year Morantz became co-sports editor of the Daily Trojan along with Lance Spiegel.
In 1968, the Los Angeles Times
Los Angeles Times
The Los Angeles Times is a daily newspaper published in Los Angeles, California, since 1881. It was the second-largest metropolitan newspaper in circulation in the United States in 2008 and the fourth most widely distributed newspaper in the country....
asked to hire Paul Morantz as a sportswriter but he opted to go to law school
Law school
A law school is an institution specializing in legal education.- Law degrees :- Canada :...
instead. Amidst a variety of odd jobs during his years at law school, Morantz took a position writing for the Pigskin Review that kept him close to his first love - college football
College football
College football refers to American football played by teams of student athletes fielded by American universities, colleges, and military academies, or Canadian football played by teams of student athletes fielded by Canadian universities...
. He also played for USC Law School in the basketball
Basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...
intramural league
Intramural sports
Intramural sports or intramurals are recreational sports organized within a set geographic area. The term derives from the Latin words intra muros meaning "within walls", and was used to indicate sports matches and contests that took place among teams from "within the walls" of an ancient city...
, his team "The Bailors" winning the USC championship. He later took up beach volleyball
Beach volleyball
Beach volleyball, or sand volleyball, is an Olympic team sport played by two teams of two players on a sand court divided by a net.Like volleyball, the object of the game is to send the ball over the net in order to ground it on the opponent’s court, and to prevent the same effort by the opponent....
and won several trophies.
After graduating from USC School of Law
USC School of Law
USC School of Law may refer to:* University of South Carolina School of Law* University of Southern California Law School...
in 1971, Paul Morantz became a Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
public defender
Public defender
The term public defender is primarily used to refer to a criminal defense lawyer appointed to represent people charged with a crime but who cannot afford to hire an attorney in the United States and Brazil. The term is also applied to some ombudsman offices, for example in Jamaica, and is one way...
in 1972. He left the public defender's office in 1973, then worked part-time as both a lawyer and writer. During which time he developed his feature-length article
Feature story
- Published Features & news :While the distinction between published features and news is often clear, when approached conceptually there are few hard boundaries between the two. It is quite possible to write a feature in the style of a news story, for instance...
on surf singers Jan and Dean
Jan and Dean
Jan and Dean were a rock and roll duo, popular from the late 1950s through the mid 1960s, consisting of William Jan Berry and Dean Ormsby Torrence...
that was later published in Rolling Stone magazine, and wrote the story for the made-for-television movie.
Although Morantz states that his early years following his days at USC were filled with indecision regarding whether he wanted to pursue writing versus practicing law, his ultimate career path combined the two fields. When he received a phone call from his brother in 1974 about a Nursing home kidnapping case Morantz used both investigative reporting skills and the law to prove the conspiracy
Conspiracy (crime)
In the criminal law, a conspiracy is an agreement between two or more persons to break the law at some time in the future, and, in some cases, with at least one overt act in furtherance of that agreement...
. This early case brought Morantz public attention and led to his fourteen year battle against the Synanon
Synanon
The Synanon organization, initially a drug rehabilitation program, was founded by Charles E. "Chuck" Dederich, Sr., in 1958, in Santa Monica, California, United States...
cult starting in 1977, in which he again did the investigation. Morantz's next investigation
Investigation
Investigation may refer to:In law enforcement:* The work of a Private investigator* The work of a Detective*Federal Bureau of Investigation, the primary investigative arm of the US Department of Justice...
in 1978 was focused on Werner Erhard
Werner Erhard
Werner Hans Erhard is an author of transformational models and applications for individuals, groups, and organizations...
, and the est Training
Erhard Seminars Training
Erhard Seminars Training, an organization founded by Werner H. Erhard, offered a two-weekend course known officially as "The est Standard Training"...
attempt to dominate a small town near Fresno
Fresno
Fresno is the fifth largest city in California.Fresno may also refer to:-Places:Colombia* Fresno, TolimaSpain* Fresno, a ghost village in Nidáliga, Valle de Sedano, Burgos* Aldea del Fresno, Madrid* Fresno de la Vega, Ribera del Esla, León...
led Morantz to assist with putting a stop to it and preventing an Erhard plan to train the Los Angeles Police Department
Los Angeles Police Department
The Los Angeles Police Department is the police department of the city of Los Angeles, California. With just under 10,000 officers and more than 3,000 civilian staff, covering an area of with a population of more than 4.1 million people, it is the third largest local law enforcement agency in...
. In 1979, he represented victims against the estate of the Peoples Temple
Peoples Temple
Peoples Temple was a religious organization founded in 1955 by Jim Jones that, by the mid-1970s, included over a dozen locations in California including its headquarters in San Francisco...
. From that point forward, Mr. Morantz's specialty was based on investigating and litigating cases involving brainwashing, a field he basically pioneered.
Throughout his subsequent years of litigating a wide range of destructive cults, Paul Morantz eventually came to share a common belief with others on several sides of the multifaceted cult battles that education
International Cultic Studies Association
The International Cultic Studies Association , formerly the American Family Foundation, describes itself as an "interdisciplinary network of academicians, professionals, former group members, and families who study and educate the public about social-psychological influence and control,...
rather than litigation should be the first defense of religious and intellectual liberty. Twenty years later he returned to writing.
Nursing home kidnappings
In 1974 Paul Morantz uncovered a criminal conspiracy to kidnap skid rowSkid row
A skid row or skid road is a run-down or dilapidated urban area with a large, impoverished population. The term originally referred literally to a path along which working men skidded logs. Its current sense appears to have originated in the Pacific Northwest...
alcoholics and sell them to nursing homes where they were kept sedated with Thorazine while the state was billed through Medical/Medicare
Medicare (United States)
Medicare is a social insurance program administered by the United States government, providing health insurance coverage to people who are aged 65 and over; to those who are under 65 and are permanently physically disabled or who have a congenital physical disability; or to those who meet other...
and their social security
Social security
Social security is primarily a social insurance program providing social protection or protection against socially recognized conditions, including poverty, old age, disability, unemployment and others. Social security may refer to:...
checks taken. Los Angeles County supervisors called for a four point probe on January 23, 1975 after hearing testimony that patients were often sedated, their ability to communicate with anyone outside the institution restricted, and detained in facilities behind locked gates and barbed wire if they tried to leave.
The public hearings held before the Board included testimony from former patients and institutional employees, with Supervisor Kenneth Hahn stating that he was "shocked" at the disclosures because "it's a terrible example of man's inhumanity to man, we can't whitewash this."
Morantz filed a class action
Class action
In law, a class action, a class suit, or a representative action is a form of lawsuit in which a large group of people collectively bring a claim to court and/or in which a class of defendants is being sued...
lawsuit
Lawsuit
A lawsuit or "suit in law" is a civil action brought in a court of law in which a plaintiff, a party who claims to have incurred loss as a result of a defendant's actions, demands a legal or equitable remedy. The defendant is required to respond to the plaintiff's complaint...
on behalf of the former patients, testified on nursing home abuses during the public hearings and aided in the creation of a district attorney
District attorney
In many jurisdictions in the United States, a District Attorney is an elected or appointed government official who represents the government in the prosecution of criminal offenses. The district attorney is the highest officeholder in the jurisdiction's legal department and supervises a staff of...
task force
Task force
A task force is a unit or formation established to work on a single defined task or activity. Originally introduced by the United States Navy, the term has now caught on for general usage and is a standard part of NATO terminology...
on nursing home crimes.
Synanon
When Morantz took on the drug rehabilitationDrug rehabilitation
Drug rehabilitation is a term for the processes of medical or psychotherapeutic treatment, for dependency on psychoactive substances such as alcohol, prescription drugs, and so-called street drugs such as cocaine, heroin or amphetamines...
institution Synanon
Synanon
The Synanon organization, initially a drug rehabilitation program, was founded by Charles E. "Chuck" Dederich, Sr., in 1958, in Santa Monica, California, United States...
in 1977, it had the reputation as a seemingly successful program for rehabilitating drug addicts where existing traditional hospitals had failed. It’s founder, Charles Dederich, an ex-alcoholic, established it in 1958 as a non-medical
Alternative medicine
Alternative medicine is any healing practice, "that does not fall within the realm of conventional medicine." It is based on historical or cultural traditions, rather than on scientific evidence....
self-help
Self-help
Self-help, or self-improvement, is a self-guided improvement—economically, intellectually, or emotionally—often with a substantial psychological basis. There are many different self-help movements and each has its own focus, techniques, associated beliefs, proponents and in some cases, leaders...
program that included the "Game," a session in which participants acted out hostilities and sought the truth about themselves while not being bound by the truth in making critical attacks on each other. Synanon claimed it had cured thousands but by 1967 Dederich turned the organization into a "lifestyle" by recruiting non-addicts ("Squares") and building cities in Marin County, then Tulare County and eventually Lake Havasu
Lake Havasu
Lake Havasu is a large reservoir behind Parker Dam on the Colorado River, on the border between California and Arizona. Lake Havasu City sits on the lake's eastern shore. The lake has a capacity of . The concrete arch dam was built by the United States Bureau of Reclamation between 1934 and 1938...
.
In 1974 Synanon declared itself a religion and centered on middle-class searching for utopia rather than addict curing. By then Synanon's assets, including real estate, ten aircraft, 400 cars, trucks and motorcycles, totaled around $33 million. Its advertising and specialty-gifts business netted $2.4 million in 1976 while donations and other income added another $5.5 million. Rules were passed mandating non-smoking, dieting, exercise programs, group marriages, shaved heads, vasectomies, abortions and exchanging mates. Approximately 200 couples “changed partners.” Members were trained in "Syndo" (Martial arts
Martial arts
Martial arts are extensive systems of codified practices and traditions of combat, practiced for a variety of reasons, including self-defense, competition, physical health and fitness, as well as mental and spiritual development....
) with the elite placed in the Imperial Marines who were trained to and did commit violence against their enemies. Dederich became a rich man.
By 1977 Morantz was warning government authorities Dederich was mandating violence
Violence
Violence is the use of physical force to apply a state to others contrary to their wishes. violence, while often a stand-alone issue, is often the culmination of other kinds of conflict, e.g...
against its enemies ("a reign of terror") and filing lawsuits on behalf of ex-members and victims. Morantz would later state in 1985, that he was among 50 victims of a Synanon "reign of terror" from 1975 to 1978.
Attempted murder conspiracy
Synanon members began to exhibit violent behavior, which culminated in 1978 when Dederich inspired followers to try to kill attorney Paul Morantz. Three weeks earlier Morantz had won a $300,000 judgment against Synanon on behalf of a married couple who claimed the wife had been held captive by Synanon and brainwashing was attempted by the organization.On October 10, 1978, Paul Morantz was bitten by a rattlesnake
Rattlesnake
Rattlesnakes are a group of venomous snakes of the genera Crotalus and Sistrurus of the subfamily Crotalinae . There are 32 known species of rattlesnake, with between 65-70 subspecies, all native to the Americas, ranging from southern Alberta and southern British Columbia in Canada to Central...
which had been placed in his Pacific Palisades home mailbox by two members of the Synanon
Synanon
The Synanon organization, initially a drug rehabilitation program, was founded by Charles E. "Chuck" Dederich, Sr., in 1958, in Santa Monica, California, United States...
Imperial Marines, Lance Kenton and Joe Musico. A neighbor applied a tourniquet that saved Morantz’s life. Arriving fire department
Fire department
A fire department or fire brigade is a public or private organization that provides fire protection for a certain jurisdiction, which typically is a municipality, county, or fire protection district...
paramedics chopped off the snake's head with a shovel, and discovered that the rattles had been removed so that the snake could attack without warning.
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
Synanon
The Synanon organization, initially a drug rehabilitation program, was founded by Charles E. "Chuck" Dederich, Sr., in 1958, in Santa Monica, California, United States...
in Visalia, California
Visalia, California
Visalia is a Central California city situated in the heart of California’s agricultural San Joaquin Valley, approximately southeast of San Francisco and north of Los Angeles...
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
Santa Mônica
Santa Mônica is a town and municipality in the state of Paraná in the Southern Region of Brazil.-References:...
Emergency Room where anti-venom could be administered and then subsequently transferred to the Los Angeles County-USC Medical Center
Los Angeles County-USC Medical Center
Los Angeles County+USC Medical Center, also known as County/USC, by the abbreviation LAC+USC, or by the name Los Angeles County General, is a 600-bed public teaching hospital located in the Boyle Heights neighborhood of Los Angeles, California...
where he made a recovery over the next several days.
The attack occurred three weeks after Morantz won a $300,000 judgment against the member organization on behalf of a married couple who claimed the wife had been held captive and subjected to brainwashing by Synanon members.
Earlier, Charles Dederich, founder of the Synanon
Synanon
The Synanon organization, initially a drug rehabilitation program, was founded by Charles E. "Chuck" Dederich, Sr., in 1958, in Santa Monica, California, United States...
program, had made recorded announcements over the internal P.A. system that played in all Synanon's compounds called "The Wire." 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. Included was Sept. 5, 1977 tape of Dederich's explaining, "Our religious posture is don't mess with us. You can get killed, dead, physically dead... We're not going to permit people like greedy lawyers to destroy us. I'm quite willing to break some lawyers' legs and tell them that next time I'll break your wife's legs and then I'll cut your kid's arm off."
After the attack on Morantz, Synanon's compound in Badger, Tulare County was searched and authorities recovered the tape recordings of these speeches. Dederich was drunk in Lake Havasu when he was taken into custody. All who were arrested plead no-contest to conspiracy to commit murder. Instrumental in the exposure of the Synanon conspiracies was the local newspaper, Point Reyes Light, where David V. Mitchell
David V. Mitchell
David V. Mitchell is a retired editor and publisher of an American small-town newspaper, The Point Reyes Light. In 1979, while he and his former wife Cathy Casto Mitchell together published The Light, the paper became one of the few weekly newspapers to ever win a Pulitzer Prize.- Life :Mitchell...
's work on Synanon won the 1979 Pulitzer Prize
Pulitzer Prize
The Pulitzer Prize is a U.S. award for achievements in newspaper and online journalism, literature and musical composition. It was established by American publisher Joseph Pulitzer and is administered by Columbia University in New York City...
for Meritorious Public Service
Pulitzer Prize for Public Service
The Pulitzer Prize for Public Service has been awarded since 1918 for a distinguished example of meritorious public service by a newspaper or news site through the use of its journalistic resources. Those resources, as well as reporting, may include editorials, cartoons, photographs, graphics,...
.
In 1991, Synanon's doors closed as a result of a successful Federal tax evasion
Tax evasion
Tax evasion is the general term for efforts by individuals, corporations, trusts and other entities to evade taxes by illegal means. Tax evasion usually entails taxpayers deliberately misrepresenting or concealing the true state of their affairs to the tax authorities to reduce their tax liability,...
lawsuit, which concluded that Synanon
Synanon
The Synanon organization, initially a drug rehabilitation program, was founded by Charles E. "Chuck" Dederich, Sr., in 1958, in Santa Monica, California, United States...
was not entitled to its past tax-exempt charitable status as it had been attacking people
Physical abuse
Physical abuse is abuse involving contact intended to cause feelings of intimidation, injury, or other physical suffering or bodily harm.-Forms of physical abuse:*Striking*Punching*Belting*Pushing, pulling*Slapping*Whipping*Striking with an object...
in violation of public policy
Public policy
Public policy as government action is generally the principled guide to action taken by the administrative or executive branches of the state with regard to a class of issues in a manner consistent with law and institutional customs. In general, the foundation is the pertinent national and...
. Morantz assisted the United States Department of Justice
United States Department of Justice
The United States Department of Justice , is the United States federal executive department responsible for the enforcement of the law and administration of justice, equivalent to the justice or interior ministries of other countries.The Department is led by the Attorney General, who is nominated...
with the investigation
Investigation
Investigation may refer to:In law enforcement:* The work of a Private investigator* The work of a Detective*Federal Bureau of Investigation, the primary investigative arm of the US Department of Justice...
and prosecution of this case.
The Center for Feeling Therapy
Paul Morantz represented approximately forty ex-members of the Center for Feeling TherapyCenter for Feeling Therapy
The Center for Feeling Therapy was a psychotherapy group founded in 1971 in Los Angeles by Joe Hart, Jerry Binder and Richard "Riggs" Corriere. After a period of experimentation and research during the 70's, Binder and Hart left the group...
whom after nine years rebelled against the Center, leading to its closure in 1980. Many of its former members later sued the founding therapists in what was then the largest psychology
Psychology
Psychology is the study of the mind and behavior. Its immediate goal is to understand individuals and groups by both establishing general principles and researching specific cases. For many, the ultimate goal of psychology is to benefit society...
malpractice
Medical malpractice
Medical malpractice is professional negligence by act or omission by a health care provider in which the treatment provided falls below the accepted standard of practice in the medical community and causes injury or death to the patient, with most cases involving medical error. Standards and...
lawsuit in California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
history. The Center, a product of the Human Potential Movement
Human Potential Movement
The Human Potential Movement arose out of the social and intellectual milieu of the 1960s and formed around the concept of cultivating extraordinary potential that its advocates believed to lie largely untapped in all people...
, splintered from Primal Therapy
Primal therapy
Primal therapy is a trauma-based psychotherapy created by Arthur Janov, who argues that neurosis is caused by the repressed pain of childhood trauma. Janov argues that repressed pain can be sequentially brought to conscious awareness and resolved through re-experiencing the incident and fully...
, and was led by Richard "Riggs" Corriere and Joseph Hart who referred to themselves as the "Butch Cassidy and Sundance kid of Psychotherapy
Psychotherapy
Psychotherapy is a general term referring to any form of therapeutic interaction or treatment contracted between a trained professional and a client or patient; family, couple or group...
" and as the "New Freuds." It also resulted in the removal of many of their therapists licenses.
The Center was heavy into recruitment
Recruitment
Recruitment refers to the process of attracting, screening, and selecting qualified people for a job. For some components of the recruitment process, mid- and large-size organizations often retain professional recruiters or outsource some of the process to recruitment agencies.The recruitment...
and coincidentally they attempted to recruit Morantz who was taken to an open house in 1978 by two Center women who had sold him office plants.
Morantz was introduced to patients at a restaurant in Hollywood who he believed wanted to instantly "love me
Love bombing
Love bombing is the deliberate show of affection or friendship by an individual or a group of people toward another individual. Critics have asserted that this action may be motivated in part by the desire to recruit, convert or otherwise influence....
." He later recounted it didn’t take long for him to see that this was actual recruitment. Two years later his first two Center clients contacted for Morantz help. Physical brutality
Physical abuse
Physical abuse is abuse involving contact intended to cause feelings of intimidation, injury, or other physical suffering or bodily harm.-Forms of physical abuse:*Striking*Punching*Belting*Pushing, pulling*Slapping*Whipping*Striking with an object...
and sexual abuse
Sexual abuse
Sexual abuse, also referred to as molestation, is the forcing of undesired sexual behavior by one person upon another. When that force is immediate, of short duration, or infrequent, it is called sexual assault. The offender is referred to as a sexual abuser or molester...
occurred plus class divisions, race derogation, rejection of parents and use of humiliating assignments intended to submit members to Center control. Morantz stated "I kind of felt that that day I had been there for a reason."
During the course of litigation, the California court of appeals in Rains v. Superior Court (Center for Feeling Therapy Psychological Corp.) ruled in Morantz’s favor that the Center’s use of physical punching
Physical abuse
Physical abuse is abuse involving contact intended to cause feelings of intimidation, injury, or other physical suffering or bodily harm.-Forms of physical abuse:*Striking*Punching*Belting*Pushing, pulling*Slapping*Whipping*Striking with an object...
("Sluggo therapy") could be the basis for a battery claim despite patient consent to being hit, because of allegations the therapists made that patients being struck was good therapy while concealing the therapists’ true intent to use slugging as a method of control over the patients.
Seven years after the therapeutic community
Therapeutic community
Therapeutic community is a term applied to a participative, group-based approach to long-term mental illness, personality disorders and drug addiction...
ended, Corriere and Hart’s licenses were removed, ending the longest, costliest and most complex psychotherapy malpractice license revocation in California history. Four psychologists were found guilty of acts of gross negligence
Gross negligence
Gross negligence is a legal concept which means serious carelessness. Negligence is the opposite of diligence, or being careful. The standard of ordinary negligence is what conduct one expects from the proverbial "reasonable person"...
, incompetence, patient abuse
Patient abuse
Patient abuse or neglect is any action or failure to act which causes unreasonable suffering, misery or harm to the patient. It includes physically striking or sexually assaulting a patient. It also includes withholding of necessary food, physical care, and medical attention...
, aiding and abetting the unlicensed practice of psychology
Psychology
Psychology is the study of the mind and behavior. Its immediate goal is to understand individuals and groups by both establishing general principles and researching specific cases. For many, the ultimate goal of psychology is to benefit society...
and false advertising after a 94-day hearing before Administrative Law Judge Robert A. Neher.
Neher wrote the center therapists publicized themselves as the world’s premier therapists in order "to solicit money, sex or free labor from patients" and to coerce them into "obsessive devotion,” ruling: "By any definition it was a cult." Twelve therapists lost or surrendered their licenses. After the revocation hearings, Morantz lamented the state system is so inefficient "that it has taken seven years to halt these people's ability to harm others."
Molko vs. Unification Church
Mr. Morantz participated pro bono in Molko v. Holy Spirit Association for the Unification of World ChristianityMolko v. Holy Spirit Association for the Unification of World Christianity
Molko v. Holy Spirit Association for the Unification of World Christianity is a legal case heard before the California Supreme Court, which issued its ruling regarding the suit in 1988.-Plaintiffs:...
in 1988, along with another anti-cult lawyer, Ford Greene
Ford Greene
Aylsworth Crawford Greene III is an American attorney from San Anselmo, California, noted for having successfully conducted litigation against Scientology and alleged cults. Greene is currently the mayor of San Anselmo and a twice-elected San Anselmo town councilman...
, wherein the California Supreme Court determined consistent with the free exercise clause of the First Amendment to the United States Constitution
First Amendment to the United States Constitution
The First Amendment to the United States Constitution is part of the Bill of Rights. The amendment prohibits the making of any law respecting an establishment of religion, impeding the free exercise of religion, abridging the freedom of speech, infringing on the freedom of the press, interfering...
and of article I, section 4, of the California Constitution
California Constitution
The document that establishes and describes the duties, powers, structure and function of the government of the U.S. state of California. The original constitution, adopted in November 1849 in advance of California attaining U.S. statehood in 1850, was superseded by the current constitution, which...
, former members of a religious organization may sue that organization on various causes of action arising out of its allegedly deceptive recruitment practices.
The court held the act of Brainwashing was outrageous conduct and victims could recover civil and punitive damages for its application. Unification Church
Unification Church
The Unification Church is a new religious movement founded by Korean religious leader Sun Myung Moon. In 1954, the Unification Church was formally and legally established in Seoul, South Korea, as The Holy Spirit Association for the Unification of World Christianity . In 1994, Moon gave the church...
members were accused of denying their religious affiliation in order to lure prospective recruits to camps where there beliefs could be psychologically manipulated through behavior modification
Behavior modification
Behavior modification is the use of empirically demonstrated behavior change techniques to increase or decrease the frequency of behaviors, such as altering an individual's behaviors and reactions to stimuli through positive and negative reinforcement of adaptive behavior and/or the reduction of...
techniques.
John Gottuso
In 1988 Paul Morantz successfully took on representation of former female patients of preacher-psychotherapist John Gottuso for sexual misconductSexual misconduct
Sexual misconduct is misconduct of a sexual nature. The term may be used to condemn an act, but in some jurisdictions it has also a legal meaning....
with his patients as an aid to their psychological and spiritual life. As a result, the pastor/therapist of Park View Christian Fellowship in California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
lost his license to practice psychotherapy
Psychotherapy
Psychotherapy is a general term referring to any form of therapeutic interaction or treatment contracted between a trained professional and a client or patient; family, couple or group...
as well as the right to be involved in his church’s pre-school.
A decade later Morantz again represented another six adults and five former students in a 1996 civil lawsuit
Lawsuit
A lawsuit or "suit in law" is a civil action brought in a court of law in which a plaintiff, a party who claims to have incurred loss as a result of a defendant's actions, demands a legal or equitable remedy. The defendant is required to respond to the plaintiff's complaint...
against Gottuso, his church and its private school. The suit for sexual abuse
Sexual abuse
Sexual abuse, also referred to as molestation, is the forcing of undesired sexual behavior by one person upon another. When that force is immediate, of short duration, or infrequent, it is called sexual assault. The offender is referred to as a sexual abuser or molester...
and psychological abuse
Psychological abuse
Psychological abuse, also referred to as emotional abuse or mental abuse, is a form of abuse characterized by a person subjecting or exposing another to behavior that may result in psychological trauma, including anxiety, chronic depression, or post-traumatic stress disorder...
was settled in March 1998 for $3,200,000.
The later civil action stated Gottuso used sex to bind his followers into a cult devoted to him with allegations of Gottuso verbally abusing members, with sexually explicit street language and preaching/counseling they could only be free through uninhibited sexual participation. Minor female students claimed Gottuso would pinch breasts, intimately hug and kiss them and watch as they disrobed at his orders.
A month after the settlement, Gottuso came up for sentencing in a Pasadena
Pasadena, California
Pasadena is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. Although famous for hosting the annual Rose Bowl football game and Tournament of Roses Parade, Pasadena is the home to many scientific and cultural institutions, including the California Institute of Technology , the Jet...
, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
after he pleaded no contest
No contest
No contest may refer to:*Nolo contendere, a plea in a criminal court case *No contest , a decision at a sporting event *No Contest a film starring Shannon Tweed...
to demonstrating a sex act with a 15-year-old girl in late 1995 in front of a class at his Christ-Bridge Academy. Sixteen of his past victims came to watch the sentencing on the misdemeanor
Misdemeanor
A misdemeanor is a "lesser" criminal act in many common law legal systems. Misdemeanors are generally punished much less severely than felonies, but theoretically more so than administrative infractions and regulatory offences...
charge, and Gottuso was placed on house arrest
House arrest
In justice and law, house arrest is a measure by which a person is confined by the authorities to his or her residence. Travel is usually restricted, if allowed at all...
.
Although the victim of the 1995 case was not Paul Morantz’s client, she allowed him to speak on her behalf at the sentencing. After the criminal case proceedings, Morantz said, "We as a state owe the public some protection... to make sure that no one with this kind of track' record can teach in private schools."
Following the case, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
passed related legislation prohibiting private school
Private school
Private schools, also known as independent schools or nonstate schools, are not administered by local, state or national governments; thus, they retain the right to select their students and are funded in whole or in part by charging their students' tuition, rather than relying on mandatory...
teachers who by their past actions could not teach in public schools.
Other Cases, Legislation and Law Enforcement
Paul Morantz has been called a "Knight in the fight against destructive high control groups" by FACTnet. He has litigated against the Church of ScientologyChurch of Scientology
The Church of Scientology is an organization devoted to the practice and the promotion of the Scientology belief system. The Church of Scientology International is the Church of Scientology's parent organization, and is responsible for the overall ecclesiastical management, dissemination and...
, Peoples Temple
Peoples Temple
Peoples Temple was a religious organization founded in 1955 by Jim Jones that, by the mid-1970s, included over a dozen locations in California including its headquarters in San Francisco...
, Hare Krishnas, Rajneesh movement
Rajneesh movement
The Rajneesh movement is a term used by Hugh B. Urban and other commentators to refer collectively to persons inspired by the Indian mystic Osho , particularly initiated disciples who are referred to as "neo-sannyasins" or simply "sannyasins", also formerly known as Rajneeshees or "Orange People",...
and other controversial cult
Cult
The word cult in current popular usage usually refers to a group whose beliefs or practices are considered abnormal or bizarre. The word originally denoted a system of ritual practices...
s. Morantz has also worked alongside of anti-cult
Anti-cult movement
The anti-cult movement is a term used by academics and others to refer to groups and individuals who oppose cults and new religious movements. Sociologists David G...
attorney at law
Attorney at law
An attorney at law in the United States is a practitioner in a court of law who is legally qualified to prosecute and defend actions in such court on the retainer of clients. Alternative terms include counselor and lawyer...
Ford Greene
Ford Greene
Aylsworth Crawford Greene III is an American attorney from San Anselmo, California, noted for having successfully conducted litigation against Scientology and alleged cults. Greene is currently the mayor of San Anselmo and a twice-elected San Anselmo town councilman...
and Los Angeles County class action lawsuit king Thomas Girardi
Thomas Girardi
Tom Girardi, born 1939, is a founding partner of Girardi & Keese a downtown Los Angeles law firm that has earned a reputation as L.A. County's king of the class action lawsuit....
.
Many of his cases included collaborating with thought reform
Mind control
Mind control refers to a process in which a group or individual "systematically uses unethically manipulative methods to persuade others to conform to the wishes of the manipulator, often to the detriment of the person being manipulated"...
experts Margaret Singer
Margaret Singer
Dr. Margaret Thaler Singer, was a clinical psychologist and a part-time Adjunct Professor in the Department of Psychology at the University of California, Berkeley, U.S....
, Louis Jolyon West
Louis Jolyon West
Louis Jolyon West was an American psychiatrist, human rights activist and expert on brainwashing, mind control, torture, substance abuse, post traumatic stress disorder and violence....
and others with notable mentions of his work defending cult victims published in Singer's Cults in Our Midst and Recovery from Cults by Michael Langone
Michael Langone
Michael D. Langone, is an American counseling psychologist who specialises in research about "cultic groups" and alleged psychological manipulation. He is executive director of the International Cultic Studies Association, editor of the journal Cultic Studies Review.Langone is author and co-author...
. Additionally, Mr. Morantz helped write the California law setting forth requirements under which a religious organization could be sued for punitive damages
Punitive damages
Punitive damages or exemplary damages are damages intended to reform or deter the defendant and others from engaging in conduct similar to that which formed the basis of the lawsuit...
.
In Hall v. Great Western Bank (1991) 231 Cal. App. 3d 713 [282 Cal.Rptr. 640] Morantz argued successfully banks could not fire employees for reasons that would violate public policy
Public policy
Public policy as government action is generally the principled guide to action taken by the administrative or executive branches of the state with regard to a class of issues in a manner consistent with law and institutional customs. In general, the foundation is the pertinent national and...
. His address to the court stated "We believe this rationale applies with even greater strength where, as in this case, a termination of employment
Termination of employment
-Involuntary termination:Involuntary termination is the employee's departure at the hands of the employer. There are two basic types of involuntary termination, known often as being "fired" and "laid off." To be fired, as opposed to being laid off, is generally thought of to be the employee's...
in violation of public policy has been alleged. Appellant's complaint alleges, in essence, a retaliatory firing resulting from her refusal to withdraw her valid claim for partial unemployment benefits"
Additionally, Paul Morantz has lectured publicly and counseled law enforcement agencies on the mindset of crusading terrorists. Morantz also taught a class at the University of Southern California
University of Southern California
The University of Southern California is a private, not-for-profit, nonsectarian, research university located in Los Angeles, California, United States. USC was founded in 1880, making it California's oldest private research university...
on the subject of all kinds of undue influences
Undue influence
Undue influence is an equitable doctrine that involves one person taking advantage of a position of power over another person. It is where free will to bargain is not possible.-Undue influence in contract law:...
, where his legal files are being archived.
Publications and other works
Journalism- PINK JUSTICE—The Trial of Judge Noel Cannon (or How I saved the Los Angeles Municipal Court), The Los Angeles Times (1967).
- The Technique of Scouting, University of Southern California Pigskin Review (1969).
- They Call it Sam's Corner, University of Southern California Pigskin Review (1970).
- Incident at Lola's, West Magazine supplement of The Los Angeles Times (1972)
- Anthony Davis Superstar, Are You What They Say You Are?, Los Angeles Magazine (1973).
- The Road Back From Dead Man’s Curve: The Tragic Life of Jan Berry with & without Dean Torrence, Rolling Stone magazine (1974).
- The Fingerprint that lied: How a crime lab framed William DePalma, Coast Magazine (1975).
- Lindh: a Young Man Caught in Evil's Net, The Los Angeles Times (January 2002).
- The Devil and John Walker, Freedom of Mind Center (2002).
Screenplays
- Deadman's CurveDeadman's CurveDeadman's Curve is a 1978 made for TV film based on the musical careers of Jan Berry and Dean Torrence. Developed from a 1974 article published in the Rolling Stone magazine by Paul Morantz, who also helped write the screenplay.-Plot:...
, CBS-TV film based on the musical careersJan and DeanJan and Dean were a rock and roll duo, popular from the late 1950s through the mid 1960s, consisting of William Jan Berry and Dean Ormsby Torrence...
of Jan Berry and Dean Torrence that aired in 1978 and 1979.
Presentations
- "Cults, Totalism and Terrorism" presented at Barion County Community College in Kansas, Cuyahoga Community College in Ohio and other similar local venues around the United States in 1979.
See also
- Destructive cultDestructive cultA destructive cult is a religion or other group which has caused or has a high probability of causing harm to its own members or to others. Some researchers define "harm" in this case with a narrow focus, specifically groups which have deliberately physically injured or killed other individuals,...
- List of cult and new religious movement researchers
- Opposition to cults and new religious movements
- Robert Jay LiftonRobert Jay LiftonRobert Jay Lifton is an American psychiatrist and author, chiefly known for his studies of the psychological causes and effects of war and political violence and for his theory of thought reform...
External links
- Paul Morantz's personal website
- Paul Morantz Biography in Steven HassanSteven HassanSteven Alan Hassan is a licensed mental health counselor and an exit counselor. Hassan was an early advocate of exit counseling, and is the author of two books on the subject of "cults", and what he describes as their use of mind control, thought reform, and the psychology of influence in order...
's Freedom of Mind Resource Center. - Paul Morantz Profile at FACTnet
Media
- Surviving Cedu, a 2008 documentary about the CEDUCEDUCEDU Educational Services, Inc., known simply as CEDU , was founded in 1967 by Mel Wasserman and his wife Brigitta. The company owned and operated several therapeutic boarding schools and behavior modification programs in California and Idaho....
therapeutic boarding schools by Liam Scheff director/producer, Jessica Pentland co-producer and featuring a closing segment with Paul Morantz on Cults, Thought Reform and Confession. - The story of Synanon, a 2009 short film by Jenni AlpertJenni AlpertJenni Alpert , is an American pop songstress. Originally from Los Angeles, Jenni Alpert's powerful sultry voice and honest rich songwriting and soothing musical melodies grab listeners in every corner...
(a relative of Paul Morantz) that was produced and edited by Jacob Davis.