Scientology vs the IRS: Legal archive

An essential element of the Church of Scientology's campaign for tax exemption was the huge number of lawsuits which it (and individual members) launched against the IRS. According to Scientology's de facto leader, David Miscavige, at the time of the tax-exemption agreement in 1993, there were over 2,500 lawsuits in progress [Miscavige, speech to International Association of Scientologists meeting, 8 Oct 1993]. This represented a huge burden on the US taxpayer and on Scientology itself - figures released to the IRS show that Scientology was spending a tenth of its income, some $30m, each year on lawyers' fees ["Scientologists Report Assets of $400 Million", New York Times, 22 Oct 1993]. It's probable that the two sides together spent several hundred million dollars on the litigation, which was almost continual for 26 years.

One of the key conditions of the secret tax-exemption agreement between Scientology and the IRS was that Scientology would not only drop all of its own lawsuits against the Service but also "use its best efforts to secure the voluntary dismissal with prejudice" of litigation brought by "Scientology-related individuals" - the clear implication being that Scientology was directing and had some degree of control over lawsuits brought by its members [Closing agreement on final determination covering specific matters, 1 Oct 1993].

It would obviously be impossible to archive the details of all of the litigation. What follows is a list of perhaps the more significant:

DATE DECIDED		CASE NAME AND CITATION
July 16, 1969		FOUNDING CHURCH OF SCIENTOLOGY v. UNITED STATES
November 15, 1973		UNITED STATES v. CHURCH OF SCIENTOLOGY OF CALIFORNIA and HENNING HELDT
December 12, 1974		CHURCH OF SCIENTOLOGY OF CALIFORNIA v. INTERNAL REVENUE SERVICE
June 26, 1975		UNITED STATES v. CHURCH OF SCIENTOLOGY OF CALIFORNIA and HENNING HELDT
February 8, 1978		MISSOURI CHURCH OF SCIENTOLOGY v. STATE TAX COMMISSION OF MISSOURI
October 2, 1978		MISSOURI CHURCH OF SCIENTOLOGY v. STATE TAX COMMISSION OF MISSOURI
June 24, 1983		CHURCH OF SCIENTOLOGY OF CALIFORNIA v. INTERNAL REVENUE SERVICE
May 14, 1984		CHURCH OF SCIENTOLOGY OF NEW YORK v. TAX COMMISSION OF THE CITY OF NEW YORK
September 24, 1984		CHURCH OF SCIENTOLOGY OF CALIFORNIA v. COMMISSIONER OF INTERNAL REVENUE
May 13, 1986		CHURCH OF SCIENTOLOGY OF NEW YORK v. TAX COMMISSION OF THE CITY OF NEW YORK
May 27, 1986		CHURCH OF SCIENTOLOGY OF CALIFORNIA v. INTERNAL REVENUE SERVICE (1)
May 27, 1986		CHURCH OF SCIENTOLOGY OF CALIFORNIA v. INTERNAL REVENUE SERVICE (2)
September 18, 1986		CHURCH OF SCIENTOLOGY OF NEW YORK v. TAX COMMISSION OF THE CITY OF NEW YORK
December 16, 1986		CHURCH OF SCIENTOLOGY OF NEW YORK v. TAX COMMISSION OF THE CITY OF NEW YORK
January 27, 1987		CHURCH OF SCIENTOLOGY OF CALIFORNIA v. INTERNAL REVENUE SERVICE
February 9, 1987		UNITED STATES v. ZOLIN
July 28, 1987		CHURCH OF SCIENTOLOGY OF CALIFORNIA v. COMMISSIONER OF INTERNAL REVENUE
November 6, 1987		UNITED STATES v. ZOLIN
November 10, 1987		CHURCH OF SCIENTOLOGY OF CALIFORNIA v. IRS, 484 U.S. 9 (1987)
March 28, 1988		UNITED STATES v. ZOLIN
May 16, 1988		CHURCH OF SCIENTOLOGY OF CALIFORNIA v. COMMISSIONER OF INTERNAL REVENUE
July 5, 1988		UNITED STATES v. ZOLIN
June 5, 1989		HERNANDEZ v. COMMISSIONER, 490 U.S. 680 (1989)
June 21, 1989		UNITED STATES v. ZOLIN, 491 U.S. 554 (1989)
October 2, 1989		CHURCH OF SPIRITUAL TECHNOLOGY v. UNITED STATES
December 15, 1989		UNITED STATES v. CHURCH OF SCIENTOLOGY FLAG SERVICE ORG., INC.
June 18, 1990		UNITED STATES v. CHURCH OF SCIENTOLOGY OF BOSTON, INC.
June 20, 1990		U.S. v. ZOLIN, 905 F.2d 1344 (9th Cir. 1990)
July 13, 1990		CHURCH OF SPIRITUAL TECHNOLOGY v. UNITED STATES
November 16, 1990		CHURCH OF SCIENTOLOGY OF BOSTON v. INTERNAL REVENUE SERVICE
December 12, 1990		CHURCH OF SCIENTOLOGY OF CALIFORNIA v. U.S., 920 F.2d 1481 (9th Cir. 1990)
March 18, 1991		CHURCH OF SCIENTOLOGY OF CALIFORNIA v. UNITED STATES
May 24, 1991		CHURCH OF SCIENTOLOGY WESTERN UNITED STATES v. INTERNAL REVENUE SERVICE
May 29, 1991		UNITED STATES v. CHURCH OF SCIENTOLOGY OF BOSTON, INC.
July 16, 1991		CHURCH OF SCIENTOLOGY OF BOSTON v. INTERNAL REVENUE SERVICE
October 18, 1991		CHURCH OF SCIENTOLOGY CELEBRITY CENTER INTERNATIONAL v. INTERNAL REVENUE SERVICE
April 15, 1992		CHURCH OF SCIENTOLOGY INTERNATIONAL v. INTERNAL REVENUE SERVICE
May 27, 1992		FOUNDING CHURCH OF SCIENTOLOGY OF WASHINGTON, D.C., INC. v. UNITED STATES
June 29, 1992		CHURCH OF SPIRITUAL TECHNOLOGY v. UNITED STATES
August 17, 1992		SMITH v. BRADY, 972 F.2d 1095 (9th Cir. 1992)
August 19, 1992		U.S. v. CHURCH OF SCIENTOLOGY WESTERN U.S., 973 F.2d 715 (9th Cir. 1992)
October 15, 1992		CHURCH OF SCIENTOLOGY WESTERN UNITED STATES v. UNITED STATES
November 16, 1992		CHURCH OF SCIENTOLOGY OF CALIFORNIA v. UNITED STATES, 506 U.S. 9 (1992)
November 30, 1992		CHURCH OF SCIENTOLOGY OF CALIFORNIA v. UNITED STATES and FRANK S. ZOLIN
January 21, 1993		UNITED STATES v. ZOLIN, 984 F.2d 988 (9th Cir. 1993)
March 9, 1993		CHURCH OF SCIENTOLOGY OF TEXAS v. INTERNAL REVENUE SERVICE
March 18, 1993		UNITED STATES v. CHURCH OF SCIENTOLOGY OF BOSTON, INC.
March 29, 1993		CHURCH OF SPIRITUAL TECHNOLOGY v. UNITED STATES
April 16, 1993		CHURCH OF SCIENTOLOGY v. I.R.S., 991 F.2d 560 (9th Cir. 1993)
June 9, 1993		CHURCH OF SCIENTOLOGY INTERNATIONAL v. U.S. I.R.S., 995 F.2d 916 (9th Cir. 1993)
June 9, 1993		CHURCH OF SCIENTOLOGY WESTERN UNITED STATES v. UNITED STATES
August 26, 1993		CHURCH OF SCIENTOLOGY INTERNATIONAL v. U.S. I.R.S
October 4, 1993		CHURCH OF SPIRITUAL TECHNOLOGY v. UNITED STATES
July 14, 1994		CHURCH OF SCIENTOLOGY OF SAN FRANCISCO v. I.R.S, 30 F.3d 101 (9th Cir. 1994)