- The Shriners, both fraternal and charitable, are suing
the non profit Charity Watch Center website and Vernon Hill, Shriner whistleblower,
for defamation, monetary damages and a jury trial.
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- http://www.help-page-nonprofit.org/index.html
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- According to a September 21, 2006 article in the St.
Petersburg Times, "Shriners Sue Over Website's Charges":
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- "The suit, filed in Hillsborough Circuit Court,
accuses J. Vernon Hill and the other members of his company, Charity Watch
Center, of spreading lies about Shriners Hospitals, a nonprofit headquartered
in Tampa."
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- Rather than answering questions about their finances,
the Shriners claim that they have been defamed by those asking the questions.
The Shriners need to prove that the fact based statements allegedly made
by Charity Watch and Hill were false and made with malice.
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- "The law of defamation is supposed to protect people's
reputations from unfair attack. In practice its main effect is to hinder
free speech and protect powerful people from scrutiny. Defamation actions
and threats to sue for defamation are often used to try to silence those
who criticize people with money and power." 1
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- The Charity Watch center analyzed thousands of pages
of Shriners 990 tax returns and found that only 23% to 48% of the net proceeds
(as opposed to the required 100%) raised in Pennsylvania were actually
going towards the charity. Paul Dolnier, Charity Watch founder, met with
investigators from the State of Pennsylvania who reviewed his findings
as a professional with a Masters in taxation, experience as an IRS Revenue
Officer and 15 years of tax accounting experience.
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- It has also been discovered that the Shriners have failed
to disclose information about their affiliations, governing documents,
lobbying, receivables from officers, trustees and key employees and real
estate loans on their tax returns.
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- Twenty years ago, the Orlando Sentinel investigated a
Shriner circus ticket scam and discovered that less than 2% of what the
Shriners raised on behalf of the sick and crippled children actually went
towards their medical care. The articles also detail how the Shriners were
ultimately fined in 1987 for violating the Florida's charitable solicitation
and registration laws.
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- The Shriners are claiming that Charity Watch and Hill
have damaged their ability to raise money. According to Dolnier, if they
never raise another dime, the Shriners can run their hospitals for the
next 40 years based on what they already have which is about $10 billion.
The Shriners have been criticized by charity watch dog groups for "hoarding"
money that should be going towards their stated primary mission; that of
operating the Shriners Hospitals for Children and providing medical care
at no cost to sick and crippled children.
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- Now, the Shriners are using their "tax- deductible
charitable contributions" to launch a jury trial in an already overburdened
Florida court system.
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- Prior to this, the Shriners failed to use their own "due
process" to address Hill's concerns and determine if he violated Shriner
law by questioning their finances. They also refused invitations to meet
with the Charity Watch Center and/or Hill to address the questions both
have asked the past two plus years about their finances. The Shriners also
failed to attempt to resolve their perceived issues through mediation.
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- Instead, they have taken a very public legal action that
will make others in the media sit up and take notice. What will they do
when the international media and three letter agencies begin to ask:
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- "What questions were being asked and why have they
refused
- to answer?"
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- "What do the tax returns show?"
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- "What do the real estate records show?"
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- "Where does all the money go?"
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- "Why all the secrecy?"
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- Others may wonder why the Shriners are asking tax payers
to pay for an expensive jury trial that they will probably never win. Cases
like this are more commonly known as "strategic lawsuits against public
participation" or SLAPP lawsuits.
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- "The purpose of SLAPP lawsuits is to chill freedom
of speech and press by bankrupting the defendant. This is how wealthy companies
abuse the legal process and the justice system.
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- As defined by Britton D. Monts, our Texas attorney in
the SLAPP suit filed in 1999 by Life Partners, Inc.,
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- 'On one side is a company that resents criticism, and
is eager to stifle the voice of a public advocate who speaks out on a controversial
issue. On the other side is an outspoken individual committed to preventing
companies from victimizing investors. As in all SLAPP lawsuits,' said Monts,
'First Amendment issues are at risk. This is a clear challenge to freedom
of speech and freedom of press.'
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- The term "SLAPP," coined by University of Denver
sociologist Penelope Canan and law professor George Pring, authors of "SLAPPS:
Getting Sued for Speaking Out," refers to strategic lawsuits against
public participation. "SLAPPers" usually are private parties,
big money interests who intimidate people from speaking out since the expense
of defending themselves can bankrupt most individuals.
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- SLAPP suits commonly are brought by corporations, real
estate developers, or other private parties who object to letters to the
editor, web site criticism or other publications, testimony at zoning hearings,
petitions to Congress or state legislatures, or who file public interest
lawsuits.
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- Unless quickly extinguished by the courts, SLAPPers chill
the democratic process. That is why more than a dozen states have anti-SLAPP
laws. These laws allow SLAPP victims to bring a motion early in the case,
before expenses go through the roof, to force the SLAPPer to present evidence
that it has a reasonable chance to win." 2
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- 1 http://www.uow.edu.au/arts/sts/bmartin/dissent/documents/
defamation.html
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- 2 http://www.viatical-expert.net/SLAPP/sLAPP%20lawsuits.htm
-
-
- All copies of material reprinted or duplicated from by
- Sandy Frost must include the following credit line: From
- http://sandyfrost.newsvine.com/ Copyright © 2006
by Sandy
- Frost. Used by permission.
-
- Visit Sandy at:
- http://sandyfrost.newsvine.com/
- http://thecassandrafrostcollection.blogspot.com/
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