Arnaldo Pagliarini Lerma (November 18, 1950 – March 16, 2018) was an American writer and activist, a former Scientologist, and a critic of the Church of Scientology who appeared in television, media and radio interviews. Lerma was the first person to post the court document known as the Fishman Affidavit, including the Xenu story, to the Internet via the Usenet newsgroup alt.religion.scientology.
Lerma started in Scientology at the age of 16 at the urging of his mother 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's military career and scientific credentials.[1] Lerma joined staff at FCDC and later in New York and was a course supervisor.[2] Around 1970,[3] he joined Scientology's Sea Org and served for seven years, being paid $10 per week and sometimes surviving on peanut butter.[4]
During his time in Scientology, Lerma reached the level of OT III.[3]
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.[2]
Lerma said he didn't want to destroy Scientology, but he wanted a change of management.[4] 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.[4] 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.[3]
The Washington Post and two investigative reporters were added to the lawsuit, as an article written about the raid contained three brief quotes from Scientology "Advanced Technology" documents.[7]
The Washington Post, et al., were released from the suit when United States District Judge Leonie Brinkema ruled in a memorandum on November 28, 1995
When the RTC first approached the Court with its ex parte request for the seizure warrant and temporary restraining order, the dispute was presented as a straightforward one under copyright and trade secret law. However, the Court is now convinced that the primary motivation of RTC in suing Lerma, DGS and The Post is to stifle criticism of Scientology in general and to harass its critics. As the increasingly vitriolic rhetoric of its briefs and oral argument now demonstrates, the RTC appears far more concerned about criticism of Scientology than vindication of its secrets.
— Memorandum opinion of November 28, 1995, by U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema; Religious Technology Center v. Arnaldo Lerma, Washington Post, Mark Fisher, and Richard Leiby [8]
The 1995 memorandum opinion acknowledges what Scientology practices to this day: the "fair game" policy, a written directive by L. Ron Hubbard that encourages harassment of anyone who speaks out against the church. In conclusion, the court awarded 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".[9] 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.[9]
"Because the RTC violated the spirit if not the letter of the law, and misled the court as to which materials were maintained and reviewed, the court vacated the writ of seizure and ordered RTC to return all seized materials."[9]
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.[10]
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.[11]
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.[12]
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, and after she fled he committed suicide by gunshot.[13][14][15] Sugerman survived but went through six surgeries and depression. Ginger Sugerman died in 2022.[16]
^Dates were obtained through domain history tools.
^Autry, Enoch (March 22, 2018). "Local man dead, wife shot during altercation". Sylvania Telephone. p. 1. Sylvania police officers responded to 308 Holly Road after a 911 emergency call was made of a woman with a gunshot wound. When the officers arrived, officers found Ginger Sugarman, 58, of Sylvania with a gunshot wound to the face. Officers reported that Sugarman was able to relay to them that she had been shot by her husband Arnaldo "Arnie" Lerma. Sugarman was transported by Scriven County EMS. Law enforcement with the Sylvania Police Department, Scriven County Sheriff's Office, and Georgia State Patrol went to 314 Holly Road to investigate the incident further. Officers located Lerma, 67, inside the residence. Lerma had expired from a self inflicted gunshot wound to the head.
Wendy M. Grossman (December 1995). "alt.scientology.war". Wired Magazine 3.12. Wired. Retrieved August 3, 2007.
Kennedy, Dan (May 15, 1996). "Getting Clear at BU?". Media Circus. Salon.com. Archived from the original on October 28, 2007. Retrieved October 19, 2007.
Prendergast, Alan (August 14, 1997). "Hush-Hush Money". Westword. Archived from the original on October 9, 2007. Retrieved October 19, 2007.
Morgan, Lucy (January 28, 1998). "Hardball". Special Report. St. Petersburg Times. Archived from the original on October 14, 2007. Retrieved October 19, 2007.
