Ford Greene
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| Ford Greene | |
|---|---|
 Aylsworth Crawford Greene III
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| Born | December 21, 1952 United States  |
| Occupation | Attorney, Specialty: Cult litigation |
Aylsworth Crawford Greene III (born December 21, 1952) is an American attorney from San Anselmo specializing in litigation against cults.
Contents |
[edit] Education
Ford Greene began studying law at the New College of California Law School in 1978. He was admitted to The State Bar of California in 1983.
[edit] Unification Church membership
He joined the Unification Church in 1974 after his sister Catherine had joined, and walked out in July 1975 after eight months.
[edit] Deprogramming activities
From 1976 to 1978, he deprogrammed Moonies, including the Prince of Tahiti. He failed to deprogram his own sister, who is still in the organisation.
[edit] Litigating against cults
In Molko v. Holy Spirit Assn. [1], Greene represented two former members of the Unification Church, David Molko and Tracy Leal. Ruling on appeal, the California Supreme Court found that religious organizations may be sued for fraud if they use deception to recruit members - the members of the Unification Church who recruited Molko had lied when he asked if their community had a religious affiliation. The Supreme Court declined to review, and the case was settled.
In State of Colorado v. Whelan and Brandyberry, Greene successfully used a "choice of evils" defense in a criminal prosecution of a "deprogrammer" against charges of kidnapping and false imprisonment.
In Wollersheim v. Church of Scientology of California, he was part of a team (with Charles B. O’Reilly of Marina Del Rey, Daniel A. Leipold of Santa Ana, and Craig J. Stein of Los Angeles) that represented former Scientologist Lawrence A. Wollersheim and successfully sued for emotional distress. It resulted in a $2.5 million judgement that grew into a $8.7 million payout due to accumulated interest after over 20 years of litigation. [2]
In Bertolucci v. Ananda Church of Self Realization, he won a $1.625 million jury verdict for fraud, coercion and sexual exploitation.
[edit] Free speech activism
Greene has been in a controversy about a sign with liberal nessages next to his law office. After San Anselmo police pulled down his sign in 2003, Greene sued the city. After a new sign ordinance was passed limiting the size of signs to 6 square feet, Greene put up 16 small signs together to form a large one. A court declined to stop this, deciding that the town could only limit the size, not the number of signs. Greene later settled the dispute, by agreeing to use only half the space for messages. [1] [2]
[edit] Politics
Greene was an unsuccessful candidate for the San Anselmo Town Council in 2005; he came 300 votes short of being elected. [3]
[edit] Sources
- ^ Sign of the Cult-Buster, SF Weekly, October 5, 2005
- ^ Town, lawyer settle sign dispute, Marin Independent Journal, October 20, 2005
- ^ Sparks fly as town picks new council member, Marin Independent Journal, October 19, 2006
[edit] Awards
- Finalist, Trial Lawyer of the Year award, 2003 (by the organization Trial Lawyers for Public Justice) for his success in the Wollersheim case, lost to Tony Serra. [3]
[edit] External links
- Official Ford Greene Home Page
- Ford Greene page by Gerald Armstrong
- Ford Greene profile at ICSA
- Ford Greene: attorney at odds Article by the Marin Independent Journal
- State Bar of California about license status
