Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2018/12/20/scientology-threatens-jezebel.html
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No backing down without a proof of life.
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habeas corpus - literally.
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The LAPD hasn’t said that Remini’s report was “false” or charged her with filing a false report
That would mean proving Miscavige is alive and well. Which they (most likely) can’t do. Because she’s (probably) dead. Due to an (almost certainly) fatal course of “auditing”. By her (purported) husband.
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I’m pretty sure no one owes anyone an interview just because they want one. Maybe she’s alive, maybe she’s dead. If she’s alive, she has a right to privacy.
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Seems like it would be easy to clear all this up with an interview.
The problem the Cult has in acceding to the request to “just wheel her out so the public can see there’s nothing to worry about” is that the only way they can do that is by literally wheeling her out.
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I wonder what the standard is for declaring a report “false” or charging someone for filing a false report. People report suspected or possible crimes all the time. I might report “I think something might happened to so-and-so because of X, Y and Z”. If X, Y and Z are all accurate and true statements but so-and-so turns out to be fine anyway, would that lead to my report being declared false? I doubt it.
If there’s a reason to suspect the LAPD’s investigation was faulty, I’d love to hear it, but implying there’s some credibility to this theory just because Remini wasn’t charged with filing a false report seems like overreach.
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The personal assistant of the disappeared wife had to escape the cult’s compound by hiding in the trunk of a car that got passed security when leaving the place. I bet you a million bucks Shelly is totally imprisoned and will never be allowed to speak publicly. Remini asked the police if Shelly was “guarded” by members when they contacted her. The department refused to answer and that is a big silent alarm going off.
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All of Remini’s shows about Scientology are quite fascinating.
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I’m pretty sure that’s not the only reason people give credence to this theory.
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I wonder what the standard is for declaring a report “false” or charging someone for filing a false report.
That’s a pretty interesting question. False reporting is a misdemeanor under Cal. Penal Code 148.5, but it requires “knowing the report to be false.” That’s going to be hard to prove in court, so I suspect it’s the kind of crime that doesn’t get charged all that much in a case like this one.
Reinforcing that conclusion is the low standard for a cop to take some action as though a crime has been committed. A cop requires only reasonable suspicion (to briefly detain a person and search him or her) or probable cause (to get a warrant or make an arrest). Members of the public, of course, aren’t required to have even that level of suspicion—presumably, it’s the cop’s job to decide whether the reporting individual’s suspicion is reasonable.
(And of course, in an optimally functioning justice system, you would want the bar for making an initial report to be extremely low so as not to discourage the public from reporting crimes, trusting well-trained police officers to exercise good judgment before taking further action, and relying on the impartial judicial system to correct any errors the officers make.
Ha, ha.)
In any event, I think you’re probably right that her merely not being charged with making a false report is probably not proof of much.
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I hope she is physically okay and only self imprisoned by her own ideology, that is the best case scenario.
Unfortunately, how these groups work, if she is alive, she likely she isn’t free to do whatever she wants or leave.
If so then technically she isn’t “missing”. people know exactly where she is. she would be imprisoned against her will which is a different crime. i’d be very disappointed in the police if they closed the one case without looking into the possibility of the other.
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Creepy as Miscavage is, the simplest amswer is she values her privacy. The press hates that. Cf: JD Salinger.
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Indeed. I’m really perplexed as to why the feds haven’t poked around yet. There’s a mountain of very damning (albeit circumstantial) evidence around this.
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Streisand Effect
Perhaps they didn’t realize that Jezebel is a Gawker remnant? It worked so well when they demanded Gawker take down those Tom Cruise videos.
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About that “missing person” check:
Police health and welfare checks are very powerful. They didn’t need a warrant, and police can bust down doors if they think* someone might be dead/in distress.
However, and because of that, they are also quite limited. If the person says that they are fine, no problems, nothing to see, then the police have to leave immediately and report that the person is fine, end of story. (Unless the person is Fine While Black, then who knows.)
The problem is that there are no details of the police check. Did they see her in person, was anyone else present, did they speak to her alone?
Also, a lot of the prisoners of Scientology are in it so psychologically deep, that they might very well say that they were fine and then walk right back into their cell, locking the door behind them. 
* or fill that in the report later.
This is the location where she’s probably being held:
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at least they try a different approach this time, but more absurd (if thats even possible)
“Jezebel is a feminist website,” Riffer adds in his letter. “It should not be a tool to allow one woman (Remini) to harass another woman (Mrs. Miscavige), her husband and her religion.”
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J.D. Salinger was never quite the shut-in some made him out to be; he never disappeared from society entirely like Howard Hughes so much as just stopped doing press interviews. His neighbors still saw him going out for groceries and whatnot. If someone had offed him it wouldn’t take months or years for anyone to notice.
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Their response:
We’ll certainly take it under advisement. In the meantime, we would certainly appreciate it if Scientology would make Shelly Miscavige available to us—or to anyone, really—for an interview.
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So what’s your theory on the church’s obstinacy with regards to her disappearance? Even if she’s alive and well (which I highly doubt), they’re certainly doing everything they can to make everyone think she’s not. Seems they could avoid a ton of bad press with a few seconds of video. Are they unwilling, or unable?
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