CAVEAT: Wesley Fager is not an attorney and not qualified to give legal advice. He writes this study as a public service. He has looked at Straight's long history of suing people who try to expose Straight's fraud and abuse and he notes as a person using plain old horse sense that Englander got Judge Logan to issue a gag order against Ray Bradbury to prevent Bradbury from mentioning Sembler's name. The issue of Mel Sembler's former penis pump is one issue. The issue of silencing an opponent of Mel Sembler is another--seems to this writer. And since this report shows that Mel Sembler's Straight program has a history of threatening, gagging and suing opponents--that is a fact as will become abundantly clear in this report, and since we know the definition of a SLAPP suit, it seems to us, in layman terms, that Mel Sembler is using the courts to silence opponents. Of course actual determination of SLAPP will have to come from certified attorneys and legally constituted courts of law.

This document serves two purposes:

1. If your are a journalist and are preparing a story on the controversial Straight program, on one of its descendents, or on an officer in one of these programs this document will give you a heads up on what to expect from them before publishing and what to expect after. It will give you advice on how to proceed.
2. A SLAPP suit or Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation is a frivolous or malicious lawsuit or lawsuits brought on by wealthy individuals or corporations against individuals or nonprofits and social advocacy organizations for the purpose of harassing and intimidating them in order to "shut them up." One goal is to use the court system to sue opponents out of existence. The Church of Scientology™ has been acussed of using SLAPP suits. [Attorney Mark Goldowitz, Esq., Oakland, CA, is an expert in SLAPP suits, 510-486-9123.] And while we are reviewing the SLAPP suit question we must be ever mindful of related action, the tort known as Malicious Prosecution. According to the Lectric Law Library "Malicious Prosecution" is an intentional tort arising from the institution or instigation of unjustifiable and unreasonable civil or criminal litigation. An action for malicious prosecution can be brought against the underlying case's plaintiff, plaintiff's counsel and/or advisors. This papers documents the use of the court system by theStraights to the point that one can reasonably question whether Mel Sembler and theStraights are not using the courts or the threat of using the courts for SLAPP suits and/or malicious prosecution to shut up its opponents.

Purpose 1. Predicting the behavior of Straight officials about whom you write before and after publishing.

For 17 years Melvin and Betty Sembler operated a program that systematically and intentionally abused teenagers. If you are authoring a non-positive article or producing a non-positive film segment about theStraights it is highly likely that Mel Sembler or his agents will seek a temporary injunction, or threaten to sue you, or even sue you in an effort to shut you up. Historically, whenever stories of abuse at Straight have surfaced, instead of fixing the problem, the Semblers (or others at Straight) have resorted to damage control by doing things like:

• reorganizing to put themselves into positions where they cannot be personally held liable;
• offering its standard $38,000 to settle with abused kids who seek recourse;
• contributing to the campaigns of politicians in return for their endorsement of Straight;
• hiring big name medical doctors to be consultants for Straight and to be its expert witnesses in its numerous civil suits;
• encouraging kids to publicly humiliate themselves by telling their often trumped-up, dirty stories and their newfound salvation at Straight;
• encouraging unsuspecting Straight parents to make public demonstrations for Straight;
• getting prominent people like the governor on the advisory board;
• using attorneys, businessmen and politicians to lobby their position;
• building coalitions to counter charges against them;
• threatening the jobs of state workers;
• forming alliances with the very law enforcement officials who should be investigating them;
• coaxing kids into signing revealing statements about themselves;
• joing groups that paint them as great humanitarians and defenders of human rights and civil liberties;
• getting judges to issue temporary injunctions to shut up any opposition;
  

Threatening, demoting and firing government workers

Purpose 2. SLAPP suits? Documenting Sembler's/Straight's use of the courts.

There is one final bullet in the Sembler arsenal. Mel Sembler uses US government media to proclaim the righteousness of Straight while suing or threatening to sue those who would dare tell the truth about Straight. [One Sembler attorney has even threaten to make an anti-Straight activist "prey" (as in a hunted animal)!] Melvin and Betty Sembler have never been personally held accountable for their roles in the felonious activities of Straight, Inc. We at theStraights dot com feel that though Mel and Betty Sembler, or their agents, may threaten to sue or even sue NBC News, FOX News or the Montel Williams Show for publishing negative comments about Straight, Inc., we feel, with almost certainty, that the Semblers would drop any such suit before voluntarily allowing themselves to be deposed about their involvement in a widespread, criminal activity. Further, according to the Lectric Law Library, "Malicious Prosecution" is an intentional tort arising from the institution or instigation of unjustifiable and unreasonable civil or criminal litigation. An action for malicious prosecution can be brought against the underlying case's plaintiff, plaintiff's counsel and/or advisors.

The rest of this report documents Straight's use of the courts and begs the question whether Straight uses the court system as an instrument to control others from telling the truth about Straight's questionable activities.

The 1988 Kangaroo court that tried to send Ray Bradbury to prison to silence him. Ray Bradbury has been a thorn in Mel and Betty Sembler's side longer than anyone else, exposing the fraud and abuse of their Straight program. Ray Bradbury is responsible for causing them to have to close their beloved Straight in 1993. In 1988 a kangaroo court was held in the Sixth Circuit of Pinellas County, Florida for the purpose of putting Ray Bradbury in prison to silence him. Because of public exposure of the proceedings Bradbury was placed on five years probation (later reduced to about 2.5 years) adjudication withheld, and forbidden to come into Pinellas County where he could stage further demonstrations about what was happening to kids at Straight. That story of his 1988 trial is told here. In light of the Sembler's recent gag against Bradbury, their civil suit against him, and their use of political pressure to try to get the Sheriff and State Attorney to arrest him for criminal wrong doing it is necessary to depose the Semblers, former State Attorney James T. Russell, former prosecutors Richard Ripplinger and Richard Mensch and Richard Mensch's brother former Straight board member Myron Mensch to determine what role the Sembler's played, if any, in the attempt to imprison Ray Bradbury.

Claire DeCunzo Martin of Columbia, Maryland (above).  Having been a parent in Straight - Springfield, Virginia  she knew what Maryland residents were in for in 1991 when authorities ran Straight out of Virginia allowing them to take their young clients with them into Maryland.

Gagging Tempie Fortson Worthy In 1989 Ms. Tempie Fortson Worthy went to Straight - Dallas seeking help for her 15 year old, emancipated daughter Christi Fortson. Straight later claimed they released Tempie for being violent, but Straight's own spokesperson, Joy Margolis, has publicly acknowledged pandemic violence at Straight - Dallas here. The fact is that Straight encourages kids to be violent and rarely are kids let go for violence. Ms. Worthy found out that her daughter had been abused at Straight and refused to pay Straight the remaining money owed. Following its standard procedure of suing parents who refuse to pay for child abuse, Straight sued Tempie Worthy. Appalled at what Straight was doing to children Tempie Worthy sued Straight and like like Claire DeCunzo Martin of Columbia, Maryland, Greg Reight of Maryland, Janet Kennedy, Ph.D. of El Paso Texas and Ray Bradbury of Tampa, Florida Tempie Worthy became an activist against Straight. She mailed out letters; she picketed Straight. Straight got a judge to issue an injunction to shut her up--she was bad for business. Rather than clean their act up, Straight. just kept abusing kids and sued Ms. Worthy for trying to stop the abuse.

Straight - Sarasota was the first Straight to close under investigation by state prosecutors. That one closed in 1983. Next it was Straight - Cincinnati's turn in 1987. As in Virginia in 1991 the Ohio Straight simply voluntarily closed on the day the trial was to begin. But NBC national news was looking at the very disturbing reports coming out of Straight - Cincinnati--a boy who carved on his arms to escape the abuse only to have his parents told that that's what kids do when they come down from drugs--they carve on themselves! Straight didn't fix their problems, but Anthony Battaglia, Straight's attorney, sent NBC a threatening letter demanding to see beforehand what NBC planned to show, notifying NBC that any slanderous distortions could lead to litigation.

Threatening FOX News. In May 2002 FOX News ran this front page article on Straight for several weeks before removing it after, according to the article's author Radley Balko, mysterious attorneys representing either Sembler, or DFAF, or both, complained to FOX. Rradley later wrote that his editor decided to remove the article since: (1) It had already run on the front page, and was merely in the archives when it was pulled; (2) It was easier to pull it than to fight a legal battle over a column that was only accessible through the search engine, and (3) He had neglected to place a call to either the Semblers or DFAF before submitting the piece.

Threatening Radley Balko. Subsequently Balko wrote an expanded 5,000 word article on Straight for Reason Magazine. This time he decided to give DFAF (Straight) a heads up but the Semblers refused to correspond with him over the phone or by eMail, so he sent them an advanced copy of the manuscript. DFAF responded in a certified letter, not by stating specific statements with which it had issues, but by carte blanche stating that if the article were published, they would sue. Furthermore, according to Balko, the staff a DFAF was told not to accept phone calls from Balko. The article has yet to be published.

Threatening Marc Emery. In 1993 the Semblers were forced to close there beloved Straight treatment program. It's reputation for abuse had become just too well known. In 1996 Straight. changed its name (yet again), this time to Drug Free America Foundation. One task DFAF took upon itself was to try to play a leading role in deciding national and international drug policy. To that end on April 26-29, 2001 DFAF and DPNA sponsored the "International Task Force Development on Strategic Policy" conference. One outcome of that conference was to plan another conference to be held in Vancouver, Canada in May of the next year. The Canadian Conference was cosponsored by DFAF and IDEAS, an organization formed by wealthy Canadian real-estate moguls Robert and Lynda Bentall. Mark Emory is a Canadian businessman who is for the legalization of marijuana. He is critical of some drug treatment organizations including Scientology™'s-related Narconon™ and Straight. In 2001 his magazine Cannabis Culture did a feature article on the Semblers and Straight which is found here. In 2002 he was appalled to learn that Betty Sembler was trying to bring her expertise to the aid of the Canadians. It was at that time that he made an announcement on his Pot TV Internet page that Betty Sembler was a "court-certified child-abuser." That was a false statement which he should not have made. In point of fact Betty Sembler has never even been indicted by Pinellas County State Attorney James T. Russell or his successor Bernie McCabe for her involvement in Straight, much less convicted or as Mr. Emory had claimed "court-certified". Betty threatened to sue and Mr. Emory broadcast a retraction. [See collusion between James T. Russell and Straight here and here, possible collusion between Bernie McCabe and Straight here.]

Suing Parents and The Paul Riffle Story. The Straights have a long history of suing the parents of its students. A search of Pinellas County, Florida court records by a reporter for the Saint Petersburg Times around 1991 found that Straight had sued at least 80 families in the last 10 months alone. Few people ever actually graduated from Straight. Straight made parents sign a contract that no matter what happened in there they would not sue. Most parents eventually woke up to the fact that their child was not going to graduate in 3 months or six months, or they caught on that Straight was abusing their child, or they realized that Straight was pressuring them to enter their other kids who did not have a drug problem, or their child escaped, or they simply refused to put up with the total demands Straight placed upon their own lives to treat them for their child's illness. Straight knew this and made the parents sign a contract that the bulk of the money was due, upfront upon admissions and if you withdrew your child early they kept the money. Richard and Susan Ferris were among the 80 families sued by Straight - Saint Petersburg in one 10 month period. Straight sued them for $1,089. Mrs. Ferris says that her son had been seduced by his host mother so she refused to pay, but later settled with Straight anyway just to make them go away. Straight sued Patricia Neumann of Lake Alfred but Mrs. Neumann filed a court document stating that she had been coerced by Straight and that the coercion included being told her son would "die without Straight." Robert and Veronica McCallion of St. Petersburg wrote in a court document that Straight was "unprincipled" and "had no intention of living up to their promise of treatment and rehabilitation" Darlene Licate of Spring Hill said her daughter had been stripped-searched and verbally abused. "I don't pay for abuse," she said.