Editing Synanon (section)

== Criminal activity and collapse ==
While Synanon initially did not tolerate violence, Dederich came to allow for violence as he sought greater control over the group. Much of the violence by Synanon was carried out by an internal group called the "Imperial Marines".<ref>
{{cite news |url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,922075,00.html |title=Synanon Sequel |date=1980-07-28 |work=Time Magazine |access-date=2011-05-23 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110921122408/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,922075,00.html |archive-date=2011-09-21 |url-status=dead }}
</ref> Over 80 violent acts were committed, including mass beatings that hospitalized teenagers, and ranchers who were beaten in front of their families.<ref name="paulmorantz.com">{{cite web |url=http://www.paulmorantz.com/the_synanon_story/the-true-history-of-synanon-violence |title=The True History of Synanon Violence and How it Started |work=paulmorantz.com}}</ref> People who left Synanon risked physical violence for being a "splittee"; one ex-member, Phil Ritter, was beaten so severely that his skull was fractured and he subsequently fell into a [[coma]] with a near-fatal case of [[bacterial meningitis]].<ref name="Light25th" /><ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5jjcIVYSZx0C&q=synanon+beating+splittee&pg=PA24 |title=Developing a Christian Worldview of the Problem of Evil |last1=Colson |first1=Charles W. |last2=Pearcey |first2=Nancy |date=2001 |publisher=Tyndale House Publishers, Inc. |isbn=9780842355841 |pages=25 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.paulmorantz.com/cult/the-history-of-synanon-and-charles-dederich/ |title=The History of Synanon and Charles Dederich |website=www.paulmorantz.com |language=en-US |access-date=2017-12-18 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171218155852/http://www.paulmorantz.com/cult/the-history-of-synanon-and-charles-dederich/ |archive-date=2017-12-18 |url-status=live }}</ref>

In mid-1978, ''[[NBC Nightly News]]'' produced a segment on the controversies surrounding Synanon. After the broadcast, several [[NBC]] executives including the network's chairman, allegedly received hundreds of threats from Synanon supporters.<ref>[[Jack Anderson (columnist)|Jack Anderson]], "NBC Cancelled Jonestown Story", March 20, 1981.</ref> On October 10, 1978, two Synanon members placed a de-rattled [[rattlesnake]] in the mailbox of [[Paul Morantz]], an attorney who had successfully brought a suit against the group on behalf of Synanon detainees.<ref name=":0">Janzen, Rod A. ''The Rise and Fall of Synanon, A California Utopia'', Johns Hopkins University Press, 2001, p. 214.{{ISBN?}}</ref><ref name=":1" /> The snake bit Morantz, and he was hospitalized for six days.<ref name="longform.org" /><ref name=":1">
{{Cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1997/03/04/us/charles-dederich-83-synanon-founder-dies.html |title=Charles Dederich, 83, Synanon Founder, Dies |last=Gelder |first=Lawrence Van |date=1997-03-04 |work=The New York Times |access-date=2017-12-18 |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171216115419/http://www.nytimes.com/1997/03/04/us/charles-dederich-83-synanon-founder-dies.html |archive-date=2017-12-16 |url-status=live }}
</ref><ref>
{{Cite web |url=https://paleofuture.gizmodo.com/the-man-who-fought-cults-and-won-1634267961 |title=The Man Who Fought the Synanon Cult and Won |date=27 September 2014 |access-date=2017-12-07 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171207084549/https://paleofuture.gizmodo.com/the-man-who-fought-cults-and-won-1634267961 |archive-date=2017-12-07 |url-status=live }}</ref> The incident along with the press coverage, prompted a law enforcement investigation into Synanon.

Six weeks after the snake attack, the [[Los Angeles Police Department]] (LAPD) performed a search of the ranch in Badger that found a recorded speech by Dederich in which he said, "We're not going to mess with the old-time, turn-the-other-cheek religious postures... Our religious posture is: Don't mess with us. You can get killed dead, literally dead... These are real threats", he said. "They are draining life's blood from us, and expecting us to play by their silly rules. We will make the rules. I see nothing frightening about it... I am quite willing to break some lawyer's legs, and next break his wife's legs, and threaten to cut their child's arm off. That is the end of that lawyer. That is a very satisfactory, humane way of transmitting information. I really do want an ear in a glass of alcohol on my desk."<ref name="Light25th">"Light to celebrate 25th anniversary of its Pulitzer", ''The [[Point Reyes Light (newspaper)|Point Reyes Light]]'', April 15, 2004, by Dave Mitchell.</ref>

Though many [[San Francisco]] area newspapers and broadcasters covered the Synanon case, they were largely silenced by legal action from Synanon's lawyers, who made claims of libel. These lawsuits ultimately turned out to be a large part of Synanon's undoing, by giving journalists access to Synanon's own internal documents. The main thorn in the cult's side was the ''[[Point Reyes Light (newspaper)|Point Reyes Light]]'', a weekly newspaper published by David V. Mitchell. The newspaper was domiciled in a tiny town ten miles south of Marshall, where Synanon's main facility was located. The paper prevailed on press freedom and protection issues and its reporting was consummately professional. It won a $100,000 judgement against the cult and in 1979, for its efforts, became the smallest paper to win a [[Pulitzer Prize]].<ref>[https://www.washingtonpost.com/obituaries/2023/11/03/david-mitchell-point-reyes-light-synanon-obit/ David Mitchell, Pulitzer-winning editor who exposed a cult, dies at 79], ''[[Washington Post]]'', William Branigin, November 3, 2023. Retrieved November 4, 2023.</ref>

As a result of the snake attack, Dederich and two Synanon residents, Joe Musico and Lance Kenton (son of the musician [[Stan Kenton]]) were arrested and pleaded "[[Nolo contendere|no contest]]" to charges of assault and conspiracy to commit murder. Lance Kenton was sentenced to a year in prison. While his associates went to jail, Dederich received probation because his doctors claimed that due to ill health he would most likely die in prison. As a condition of probation, he was disallowed from taking part in managing Synanon.<ref>
{{cite news| title = Snake Plot: Dederich Sentenced| url = https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1314&dat=19800903&id=EltOAAAAIBAJ&pg=7212,1019836&hl=en.| work = [[The Spokesman-Review]]| date = 1980-09-03| access-date = 2015-11-21| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160512191250/https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1314&dat=19800903&id=EltOAAAAIBAJ&sjid=wu4DAAAAIBAJ&pg=7212,1019836&hl=en.| archive-date = 2016-05-12| url-status = live}}
</ref><ref>
{{Cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1982/03/09/us/synanon-founder-advocated-violence-against-opponents.html |title=Synanon Founder Advocated Violence Against Opponents |date=1982-03-09 |work=The New York Times |access-date=2017-12-18 |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171207091337/http://www.nytimes.com/1982/03/09/us/synanon-founder-advocated-violence-against-opponents.html |archive-date=2017-12-07 |url-status=live }}
</ref> Dederich died on February 28, 1997 at age 83, after a series of strokes; the cause of death was cardiorespiratory failure.<ref>New York Times, 4 March 1997.</ref>

Synanon struggled to survive without its leader, and also with a severely tarnished reputation. The [[Internal Revenue Service]] revoked the organization's tax-exempt status and ordered them to pay $17 million in back taxes. That bankrupted Synanon, which formally dissolved in 1991.<ref>Szalavitz, Maia, ''Help at Any Cost:  How the Troubled-Teen Industry Cons Parents and Hurts Kids'', Riverhead Books, 2006, p. 33.{{ISBN?}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RnrBO-O_HvcC&q=synanon+%2417+million+in+back+taxes&pg=PA363 |title=Utopias in American History |last=Sreenivasan |first=Jyotsna |date=2008 |publisher=ABC-CLIO |isbn=9781598840520 |pages=363 |language=en}}</ref><ref>
{{Cite news |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1985-10-02-mn-16054-story.html |title=U.S. Indicts Nine From Synanon in Tax-Exemption Effort |last=Ostrow|first=Ronald J. |date=1985-10-02 |work=Los Angeles Times |access-date=2017-12-18 |language=en-US |issn=0458-3035 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160712121607/http://articles.latimes.com/1985-10-02/news/mn-16054_1_tax-exempt-status |archive-date=2016-07-12 |url-status=live }}
</ref>