LOS ANGELES (CNS) - Church of Scientology attorneys will each have up to 30 pages to write their coming anti-SLAAP motion as part of the church's defense of the majority of claims in actress Leah Remini's amended complaint, a judge ruled Wednesday while also giving the actress' lawyers the same number of pages for their opposition.
Scientology lawyers will then have another 20 pages to reply to Remini's opposition, Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Randolph M. Hammock ruled. The state's anti-SLAPP (Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation) law is intended to prevent people from using courts, and potential threats of a lawsuit, to intimidate those who are exercising their First Amendment rights.
Remini's original suit was brought Aug. 2 and included allegations of civil harassment, stalking, intentional infliction of emotional distress and defamation. Scientology leader David Miscavige is also a defendant in both the first suit and the updated complaint.
In her updated complaint filed Aug. 29, the 53-year-old "The King of Queens" star seeks unspecified compensatory and punitive damages, and she repeats her allegation that Scientologists "have undertaken a campaign to ruin and destroy the life and livelihood of Leah Remini, a former Scientologist of nearly 40 years, a two-time Emmy-award winning producer, actress and New York Times best-selling author, after she was deemed a suppressive person and declared fair game by Scientology in 2013, when she publicly departed Scientology."
Church lawyers stated in their court papers that they believe the majority of the allegations in Remini's 68-page revised suit implicate the church's constitutionally protected speech or activity and they asked Hammock to allow them a maximum of 30 pages in their brief to prove their point.
"Religious speech is of course protected, and speech about the Church of Scientology in particular has been recognized as speech on a matter of public interest," the church attorneys argue.
In a two-page response to the church's motion, Remini's attorneys stated that 30 pages is "excessive and poses an unnecessary burden on the court's resources," but said they would defer to Hammock's judgment.
The church attorneys state in their court papers that during the past decade, Remini has "made a lucrative career spewing hate and inspiring violence against the Church of Scientology, its parishioners and the ecclesiastical leader of the Scientology religion."
Remini has pursued her goals through her autobiography, a cable television show, podcasts and appearances on broadcast television and radio, according to the Scientology lawyers' court papers, which further state that lawyers will provide "multiple examples of persons who committed acts of violence against the church while expressly claiming (Remini) as their inspiration."
Remini released the book "Troublemaker: Surviving Hollywood and Scientology" in 2015, and hosted the A&E documentary series "Leah Remini: Scientology and the Aftermath" from 2016-19.
Hammock rescheduled a case management conference from Dec. 4 to Dec. 7.