International Journal of Cultic Studies ■ Vol. 9, 2018 15
Eventually, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down
RFRA,
219F
220 but Congress enacted Religious Land
Use and Institutionalized Persons Act of 2000
(“RLUIPA”)
220F
221 to amend and retain parts of the
former legislation.
221F
222 RLUIPA focuses on land-
use laws and makes it easier for religious
landowners to get approval for zoning law
changes, for example.
222F
223 One of the many
problems with this legislation, Hamilton claims,
is that mega churches have taken advantage of
the zoning laws and built extensively in
communities, draining resources for others.
223F
224
Successful prosecutions have more frequently
occurred in extreme cases where there was
evidence of physical abuse, torture, and murder,
so proving psychological coercion was not
required in order to show criminal liability. For
instance, Paul Schaefer, leader of the cult
formerly known as “Colonia Dignidad” (now
called “Villa Baviera”), was found guilty of
sexually abusing twenty-five children and
sentenced to twenty years in prison.
224F
225 He was
ordered to pay $1.4 million to his victims.
225F
226
When Augusto Pinochet came to power in Chile,
his regime used Schaefer’s compound as a
torture center, subjecting victims to
brainwashing, electric shock, tranquilizers, and
isolation.
226F
227 While serving his sexual abuse
sentence, Schaefer was also sentenced to seven
years for a murder committed while he operated
Colonia Dignidad.
227F
228
In another extreme case, a Norwegian father of
thirteen children and adherent of the “Smiths
Friends Christian Community” was sentenced to
four months in prison for physically abusing his
children by flogging them with coat hangers,
220 See City of Boerne v. Flores, 521 U.S. 507 (1997) (holding that
RFRA exceeded enforcement powers of Congress).
221 Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act of 2000,
42 U.S.C. §§ 2000cc-c-5.
222 Id.
223 HAMILTON, supra note 176, at 188.
224 Id. at 123−26.
225 See discussion supra notes 88−108 and accompanying text.
226 See News Summaries, 5 CULTIC STUD. REV. 308 (2006).
227 See id. at 416.
228 See News Summaries, 8 CULTIC STUD. REV. 88 (2009).
lamp cables, yardsticks and birch rods over a
fourteen-year period.
228F
229
On the civil side in the United States, former
cult members have initiated suits based upon the
wrongs done to them. Recognizing the difficulty
of asserting undue influence, plaintiffs base
these lawsuits upon grounds of lost wages,
conversion of property and money, and
psychological harm caused by the group’s
programs.
229F
230 Such lawsuits have been brought
against the Church of Scientology,
Transcendental Meditation-Ex, Werner Erhard
for EST, and John Hanley for Lifespring.
230F
231
A legal process used by youth who are nearing
the age of majority and are trying to escape cults
is to declare emancipation.
231F
232 Youth who
manage to escape cults can seek the assistance
of U.S. laws to become legally emancipated.
232F
233
FLDS youth have taken advantage of state laws
that allow sixteen and seventeen-year-olds to
petition juvenile courts for emancipation from
their parents.
233F
234
Despite some successful criminal and civil
lawsuits in the United States and abroad, the law
does not go far enough to deal with cults that are
so highly destructive. In the Jonestown tragedy,
over 900 people were killed.
234F
235 There were
group suicides at the “Branch Davidian”
compound in Waco, Texas, in 1992 and
“Heaven’s Gate” in the 1990s.
235F
236 The “Order of
the Solar Temple,” geographically dispersed
from Canada, Switzerland, to France, killed a
total of seventy-four people in brutal and ritual
229 See News Summaries, supra note 224, at 321−22.
230 See HASSAN, supra note 55.
231 Id.
232 See Robin A. Boyle, How Children in Cults May Use
Emancipation Laws to Free Themselves, 16 CULTIC STUD. J. 1
(1999) [hereinafter Emancipation].
233 See id.
234 See News Summaries, supra note 224. Some countries have
clamped down with more restrictions after 9/11. In Australia,
legislation now designates religious groups as “terrorist” and bans
them. Membership in these prohibited groups is met with
punishment. Harsher security laws trump other rights. Mutch,
supra note 143, at 189.
235 See Robert S. Baron, Arousal, Capacity, and Intense
Indoctrination, 18 CULTIC STUD. J. 172, 173 (2001).
236 See id. at 173.
Eventually, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down
RFRA,
219F
220 but Congress enacted Religious Land
Use and Institutionalized Persons Act of 2000
(“RLUIPA”)
220F
221 to amend and retain parts of the
former legislation.
221F
222 RLUIPA focuses on land-
use laws and makes it easier for religious
landowners to get approval for zoning law
changes, for example.
222F
223 One of the many
problems with this legislation, Hamilton claims,
is that mega churches have taken advantage of
the zoning laws and built extensively in
communities, draining resources for others.
223F
224
Successful prosecutions have more frequently
occurred in extreme cases where there was
evidence of physical abuse, torture, and murder,
so proving psychological coercion was not
required in order to show criminal liability. For
instance, Paul Schaefer, leader of the cult
formerly known as “Colonia Dignidad” (now
called “Villa Baviera”), was found guilty of
sexually abusing twenty-five children and
sentenced to twenty years in prison.
224F
225 He was
ordered to pay $1.4 million to his victims.
225F
226
When Augusto Pinochet came to power in Chile,
his regime used Schaefer’s compound as a
torture center, subjecting victims to
brainwashing, electric shock, tranquilizers, and
isolation.
226F
227 While serving his sexual abuse
sentence, Schaefer was also sentenced to seven
years for a murder committed while he operated
Colonia Dignidad.
227F
228
In another extreme case, a Norwegian father of
thirteen children and adherent of the “Smiths
Friends Christian Community” was sentenced to
four months in prison for physically abusing his
children by flogging them with coat hangers,
220 See City of Boerne v. Flores, 521 U.S. 507 (1997) (holding that
RFRA exceeded enforcement powers of Congress).
221 Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act of 2000,
42 U.S.C. §§ 2000cc-c-5.
222 Id.
223 HAMILTON, supra note 176, at 188.
224 Id. at 123−26.
225 See discussion supra notes 88−108 and accompanying text.
226 See News Summaries, 5 CULTIC STUD. REV. 308 (2006).
227 See id. at 416.
228 See News Summaries, 8 CULTIC STUD. REV. 88 (2009).
lamp cables, yardsticks and birch rods over a
fourteen-year period.
228F
229
On the civil side in the United States, former
cult members have initiated suits based upon the
wrongs done to them. Recognizing the difficulty
of asserting undue influence, plaintiffs base
these lawsuits upon grounds of lost wages,
conversion of property and money, and
psychological harm caused by the group’s
programs.
229F
230 Such lawsuits have been brought
against the Church of Scientology,
Transcendental Meditation-Ex, Werner Erhard
for EST, and John Hanley for Lifespring.
230F
231
A legal process used by youth who are nearing
the age of majority and are trying to escape cults
is to declare emancipation.
231F
232 Youth who
manage to escape cults can seek the assistance
of U.S. laws to become legally emancipated.
232F
233
FLDS youth have taken advantage of state laws
that allow sixteen and seventeen-year-olds to
petition juvenile courts for emancipation from
their parents.
233F
234
Despite some successful criminal and civil
lawsuits in the United States and abroad, the law
does not go far enough to deal with cults that are
so highly destructive. In the Jonestown tragedy,
over 900 people were killed.
234F
235 There were
group suicides at the “Branch Davidian”
compound in Waco, Texas, in 1992 and
“Heaven’s Gate” in the 1990s.
235F
236 The “Order of
the Solar Temple,” geographically dispersed
from Canada, Switzerland, to France, killed a
total of seventy-four people in brutal and ritual
229 See News Summaries, supra note 224, at 321−22.
230 See HASSAN, supra note 55.
231 Id.
232 See Robin A. Boyle, How Children in Cults May Use
Emancipation Laws to Free Themselves, 16 CULTIC STUD. J. 1
(1999) [hereinafter Emancipation].
233 See id.
234 See News Summaries, supra note 224. Some countries have
clamped down with more restrictions after 9/11. In Australia,
legislation now designates religious groups as “terrorist” and bans
them. Membership in these prohibited groups is met with
punishment. Harsher security laws trump other rights. Mutch,
supra note 143, at 189.
235 See Robert S. Baron, Arousal, Capacity, and Intense
Indoctrination, 18 CULTIC STUD. J. 172, 173 (2001).
236 See id. at 173.
