Editing Scientology (section)

=== Suppressive persons and fair game ===

Those deemed hostile to the Church of Scientology, including ex-members, are labeled "[[suppressive person]]s" or SPs.{{sfnm|1a1=Barrett|1y=2001|1p=463|2a1=Thomas|2y=2021|2p=30}} Hubbard maintained that 20 percent of the population would be classed as "suppressive persons" because they were truly malevolent or dangerous: "the Adolf Hitlers and the Genghis Khans, the unrepentant murderers and the drug lords".<ref name="GA177">{{harvnb|Cowan|Bromley|2006|p=177}}</ref><ref name="ZP146-147">{{harvnb|Zellner|Petrowsky|1998|pp=146–147}}</ref> If the organization declares that one of its members is an SP, all other members are forbidden from further contact with them, an act it calls "[[disconnection (Scientology)|disconnection]]".{{sfn|Thomas|2021|p=30}} Any member breaking this rule is labeled a "[[potential trouble source]]" (PTS) and unless they swiftly cease all contact they can be labeled an SP themselves.{{sfn|Thomas|2021|pp=30-31}}<ref name="newreli">{{Cite book |author=Bednarowski, Mary Farrell |title=New Religions and the Theological Imagination in America (Religion in North America) |publisher=Indiana University Press |location=Bloomington |year=1995 |page=114 |isbn=978-0-253-20952-8}}</ref>{{r|Bednarowski}}

In an October 1968 letter to members, Hubbard wrote about a policy called "[[Fair game (Scientology)|fair game]]" which was directed at SPs and other perceived threats to the organization.{{sfn|Barrett|2001|p=463}}<ref name="urban2008">{{Cite journal|last=Urban|first=Hugh B.|year=2008|title=Secrecy and New Religious Movements: Concealment, Surveillance, and Privacy in a New Age of Information|journal=Religion Compass|volume=2|issue=1|pages=66–83|issn=1749-8171|doi=10.1111/j.1749-8171.2007.00052.x}}</ref> Here he stated that these individuals "may be deprived of property or injured by any means by any Scientologist without any discipline of the Scientologists. May be tricked, sued or lied to or destroyed".{{sfnm|1a1=Barrett|1y=2001|1p=463|2a1=Thomas|2y=2021|2p=30}} Following strong criticism, the organization said that it formally ended Fair Game a month later, with Hubbard stating that he had never intended "to authorize illegal or harassment type acts against anyone."{{sfn|Barrett|2001|p=464}} Critics and some scholarly observers argue that its practices reflect that the policy remains in place.{{sfnm|1a1=Barrett|1y=2001|1p=464|2a1=Thomas|2y=2021|2p=31}} It is "widely asserted" by former members that Fair Game is still employed;{{sfn|Doherty|2014|p=46}} [[Stacy Brooks]], a former member of the internal Office of Special Affairs, stated in court that "practices which were formerly called 'Fair Game' continue to be employed, although the term 'Fair Game' is no longer used."{{sfn|Barrett|2001|p=464}}

Hubbard and his followers targeted many individuals as well as government officials and agencies, including a [[Operation Snow White|program of illegal infiltration]] of the [[Internal Revenue Service|IRS]] and other [[Federal government of the United States|U.S. government]] agencies during the 1970s.<ref name="urban2006">Urban, Hugh B. ''Magia sexualis: sex, magic, and liberation in modern Western esotericism'', p. 137. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 2006. {{ISBN|978-0-520-24776-5}}</ref><ref name="urban2008" /> They also conducted private investigations, [[character assassination]] and [[lawsuit|legal action]] against the organization's critics in the media.<ref name="urban2006" />

The [[Scientology ethics and justice]] system regulates member behavior,<ref name="GA180" /> and [[Scientology ethics and justice#Ethics officer|Ethics officers]] are present in every Scientology organization. Ethics officers ensure "correct application of Scientology technology" and deal with "behavior adversely affecting a Scientology organization's performance", ranging from "errors" and "misdemeanors" to "crimes" and "suppressive acts", as those terms defined by Scientology.<ref name="GA181">{{harvnb|Cowan|Bromley|2006|p=181}}</ref>