Basic HTML Version
NEWS SUMMARY, April 16, 1979
Page 3
as well as another church
(Faith Center which operates
channel 30).
The
Attorney General had been investigating Faith Center before he descended
on The Worldwide Church, but had been thwarted by a "No, no, we won't
show" resistance to his office's unconstitutional gestapo-type attempt
to review their records.
In the raided attorney's offices were the private files of
over one
thousand clients.
Because the attorney made a quick call and got camera
and sound crews over to his offices, he has over seven hours worth of
documented proof showing the Attorney General's men opening, and even
in some cases taking, papers from the files of some of these clients
whose cases are outside the stated purpose of the investigation.
This
clearly violated attorney-client confidentiality, as well as the rights
to privacy of over 1000 heretofore uninvolved citizens of California -
and by the highest law officer of the state!
After the raids a spokesman for Attorney General George Deukmejian stated
that the searches of the law offices were be.ina conducted in the inves
tigation of a church.
"We're examining the fi�ancial records of Morning
land /Morningland Church of the Ascended Christ7 and I've been told,"
he said, "we're a long way from filing charges:-"
Obviously they were on
a "fishing expedition" under the color of state authority.
Could it be that the Attorney General's office is now in so deep that
they are going to continue raiding what some consider out-of-the-main
stream churches in the hopes they will find something somewhere to justify
their outrageous actions?
Church asks stay of receivership
pending review
SAN FRANCISCO <AP l - The
Worldwide Church of God asked
the California Supreme Court
Thursday for an immediate stay
of financial receivership proceed
ings until the U.S. Supreme Court
acts on its request for a review of
the matter.
The state tribunal on March 22
denied a request to overturn Los
Angeles Superior Court orders
on
Jan.
19
appointing a receiver to
manage the church's finances
and on March 12 reimposing
receivership without no tice,
hearin� or evidence.
Thf' Pasadena-basP.ci rhurrli
said it is going to the U.S Su
preme Court "t o protect and
es tab l ish Fi rst Amendment
rights violated by the Jan.
19
and
March 12 orders."
The church also claimed the
lawsuit and receivership was
causing continuing financial inju
ry to the church in excess of
$5
million a year.
The Attorney General's office,
acting on behalf of complaints
that funds were allegedly being
,;iphoned from the church,
filed
suit Jan.
2
asking for an account
ing from church officials. re
plarement of directors. appoint-
ment of a receiver and an injunc-
1 ion against individual defen
dants.
The church said the first re
ceiver asked for fees and costs of
$235,000 "every penny of which
was incurred for 'services' in
flicted
on the church against its
will and to its injury."
These "services," it alleged,
included storming the premises
Jan. 3, confiscating and removing
thousands of documents without
inventory and destroying the
church· s previously excellent
financial standing.
(Editor's Note: The above AP news release appeared in the Pasadena
Star-News on Friday, April 13.)