Unfortunately, the Testamentary Will did not stipulate any specific beneficiaries and the Probate Court, in a REFORMED TRUST, divided the JHJ Estate into two parts: 1) The JHJ Charitable and Educational Trust which received three-fourths ($10,828,853) of the remaining Estate; and 2) The Truth Seeker, a private corporation, one-fourth ($3,609,618) of the remaining Estate. The sum of $14,438,471 was left after legal fees, taxes, etc. Again, the tragic and purposeful error of not stipulating the beneficiaries was retained in the REFORMED TRUST which prevented an unchallenged "right of standing" by interested parties.

The abuses of the JHJ Trust was manifested in the first year of awards where nine of the twelve awards given (75%) were awarded to organizations and for purposes unrelated to the JHJ Trust. This pattern continued through the second year where eleven of thirteen awards (85%) were illegally given to organizations and for purposes unrelated to the JHJ Trust.

In order to correct these abuses, where most Freethought Organizations who had submitted grants to "expose religion as against reason" were being rejected for funding, James W. Prescott, Ph.D., Director, Institute of Humanistic Science (then, a Division of the American Humanist Association) filed a lawsuit in the Superior Court of San Diego on September 9, 1991 to end the abuses of the JHJ Trust. The IHS was joined in this lawsuit by Co-plaintiffs, Atheist United of San Francisco, the American Humanist Association, and Humanist Association of Los Angeles.

Plaintiffs lawsuit was rejected by the Superior Court of San Diego for "lack of standing" and had sanctions imposed upon them of $1,500 for filing "a frivolous lawsuit". The IHS appealed to the Court of Appeals where the remaining Co-plaintiffs removed themselves from the Appeal for fear of additional sanctions; and the Appeal was dismissed by the Court of Appeal for Plaintiff IHS's inability to obtain new legal counsel when his prior counsel had his license to practice law revoked by the California State Bar.

A further complaint was filed with the Office of the Attorney General by James W. Prescott, Ph.D. which resulted in a letter of consent agreement issued by the Attorney General on May 19, 1992 which compelled Trustee True and General Counsel Withers to desist making grant awards that were not in compliance with the terms of the JHJ Trust. This action resulted in zero illegal grant awards in the fifth and sixth years of the JHJ Trust. Dr. Robert John, New York had also filed complaints with the Attorney General of California.

The additional abuses of the JHJ Trust documented by Dr. Prescott involved the excessive and exorbitant personal compensation which Mr. True and Mr. Withers gave themselves during the first six years of the JHJ Trust where their combined personal compensation exceeded the total grant awards (legal and illegal) by 172%. ($3,006,772 personal compensation vs. $1,747,137 total grant awards).

The death of Mr. True resulted in the Probate Court's appointment of Mr. Kevin Munnelly, a Roman Catholic and advisor to Mr. True in his granting illegal awards which included an illegal diversion of JHJ Trust Funds to the San Diego Community Foundation with which he was affiliated and who today maintains a "conflict of interest" with respect to the JHJ Trust (as of 1996); and Bonnie Lange, a former Mormon who also betrayed JHJ's Testamentary Will, as President, Truth Seeker, by publishing in the Truth Seeker, an article "Atheists Should Accept God" (Winter 1990) against the objections of its then Editor, Dr. James W. Prescott, who was subsequently terminated as Editor, Truth Seeker for his opposition to the publication of that article.

Dr. Prescott filed a lawsuit against Bonnie Lange, President, Truth Seeker and The Truth Seeker Corporation on this matter but it was dismissed on legal technical grounds where Plaintiff was, again, sanctioned--this time for $20,000 for filing a "frivolous" lawsuit. The merits of the case were never heard. Legal Council was suspended from the practice of law while preparing for an appeal which fell upon Plaintiff to complete and file. Legal Council was never sanctioned for filing a "frivolous" lawsuit. Bonnie Lange was subsequently appointed a Co-Trustee and then resigned for certain considerations, which are now subject to several lawsuits before the Courts.

The newly elected Attorney General Bill Lockyer, however, investigated the complaints filed by Dr. Prescott and has filed a lawsuit to correct the extensive abuses of the JHJ Trusts and to remove the Trustee.

See Special Report below, and/or visit Probate Examiner Notes, Superior Court, San Diego County, State of California.

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The ten-year effort of the Institute of Humanistic Science to restore integrity to the James Hervey Johnson Charitable and Educational Trust (JHJ-CET); and to the JHJ Truth Seeker Trust (JHJ-TST) has finally been successful. Attorney General Bill Lockyer filed a PETITION before the Probate Court on August 11, 2000 for "REDRESS OF BREACH OF TRUST BY CHARITABLE TRUSTEES; TO PASS UPON ACTIONS OF TRUSTEES; TO RECOVER TRUST PROPERTY WRONGFULLY DISPOSED OF [PROB.CODE SECTIONS 17200, 16420].

A Court Hearing was scheduled for September 19, 2000 but has been continued to November 7, 2000; 10:30 AM in the Probate Court, San Diego County.

The first lawsuit filed by the Institute of Humanistic Science with three co-plaintiffs, re. the American Humanist Association, Humanist Association of Los Angeles and Atheists United of San Francisco was filed in 1991 with cross-complaints to AG Lungren. The Superior Court ruled that a "frivolous" lawsuit had been filed with a sanction of $1,500 imposed upon the Plaintiffs. However, the AG found merit in the complaints filed by the Institute of Humanistic Science, where 80% of the grants awarded in the first two years of the JHJ-CET were illegal awards to organizations not qualified to receive JHJ-CET grant funds and for purposes specified by the JHJ-CET.

The AG issued a letter of consent agreement, dated May 19, 1992, to General Counsel Roy Withers, which required Trustee Lawrence Y. True to sign and which required him to award grant funds to only those organizations qualified to receive JHJ-CET grant funds under the terms and purposes stipulated in the Reformed Trust, namely, "to expose religion as against reason" and to publish JHJ's views on natural health and religion. This action by the AG put an end to the illegal disbursement of JHJ CET funds and permitted the funding of Freethought Organizations that had been previously rejected by Trustee Lawrence Y. True.

The American Humanist Association and its various Chapters benefited from this action with funding that exceeded $200,000 dollars. Other Freethought Organizations have benefited, e.g. Americans For Religious Liberty (Edd Doerr, Executive Director) and President of the AHA. Complete funding disbursements have been previously reported upon by the Institute of Humanistic Science, where the Freethought Organizations headed by Paul Kurtz have benefited the most from the JHJ CET grant award funds.

Freethought Organizations are currently not being funded to implement the objectives of the JHJ Testamentary Will and Reform Trust, namely, "to expose religion as against reason." This lack of funding is due to breach of trust and violations of fiduciary responsibility, as enumerated in the legal actions taken by the Attorney General. Additional complaints were filed by the Institute of Humanistic Science to Attorney General Lungren, under Governor Wilson, that the total compensations given to Trustee True and General Counsel Roy Withers exceeded the sum of all grants awarded by the JHJ CET, which were not acted upon by AG Lungren. Trustee True (now deceased) and General Counsel Roy Withers became the primary beneficiary of monies disbursed by the JHJ CET.

These complaints were also filed with Lt. Governor Gray Davis, when he was running for Governor, State of California, and with Attorney General Bill Lockyer, upon his election as Attorney General. James M. Cordi, Supervising Deputy Attorney General, has been responsible for the investigation of charges made by the Institute of Humanistic Science and for bringing the current legal action against the Officers and General Counsel, JHJ Trusts. Roy Withers has been found to be in conflict of interest by being General Counsel for both the JHJ-CET/TS Trusts and the Truth Seeker Corporation and is no longer representing the Truth Seeker Corporation that publishes the Truth Seeker Magazine.

In the 15-page legal brief filed by James M. Cordi before The Superior Court, County of San Diego, there are many issues of financial misconduct that are identified which require corrective actions. These are stated below in the words of James M. Cordi:

WHEREFORE, the Attorney General prays that the court:
1) determine that Ms. Lange has breached her trust as co-trustee of the CET by violating the 1989 order and spending CET funds for purposes not authorized by that order;

2) determine that Mr. Munnelly has breached the trust by failing to adequately monitor and supervise the actions of his co-trustee;

3) determine that the above mentioned loans made by CET to TSC and/or TST constituted breaches of trust by the co-trustees of CET, and were not in furtherance of CET's charitable purposes, and order that such loans be recinded, and that TST and TSC refund to CET the proceeds of such loans, with interest at the legal rate;

4) order the trustee of the CET to seek a refund of $200,000 in pre-paid legal fees from trust attorneys, Withers and Goulding, or in the alternative, order Withers & Goulding to refund such fees to the CET;

5) order Withers & Goulding to refund to the CET all legal fees for representing CET in connection with the above referenced loans and transactions in which CET had conflicts of interests with other parties also represented by Withers & Goulding;

6) order the trustees of the CET to account for all funds of CET paid for legal fees in connection with any of the above referenced loans and transactions, and to account for any CET funds improperly paid to RR, or to any other organization in which Ms. Lange had an interest, which were diverted from their proper charitable purposes; and surcharge the trustees for such improper expenditures;

7) remove Mr. Munnelly as trustee of the CET and appoint a suitable successor trustee;

8) award to the CET such further relief for any breaches of trust as the court may deem equitable, just and proper; and

9) award the Attorney General his costs, including the costs specified in Government Code section 12598.

DATED: August 4, 2000

BILL LOCKYER, Attorney General of the State of California
JAMES M. CORDI, Supervising Deputy Attorney General

BY __________________________
s/ JAMES M. CORDI

Attorneys for the Attorney General of California

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One of the many significant monetary matters to be addressed is the accounting of the disappearance of the entire principle of the JHJ-TS Trust Fund (3.6 million dollars), a fund that was to remain "in perpetuity," as is the JHJ-CET original principle of 10.8 million dollars. The JHJ-TS Trust was established by the Reform Trust to provide funds for the publication of The Truth Seeker Magazine, "in perpetuity," and now is without funds to continue its publication; and to remove any further obligation of the JHJ-CET to fund the publication of The Truth Seeker Magazine. Given the substantial abuses of these two JHJ Trusts, the Reform Trust may well be judged to be defective by the Probate Court and a new Reform Trust is needed to consolidate the publication of the Truth Seeker Magazine within the structure of the JHJ-CET.

A strong voice from the Freethought Community is needed to convey to the Attorney General that he petition the Probate Court of the necessity for the new trustee to be non-theistic; who has strong and unquestioned credentials in Freethought, Atheistic and Humanistic life philosophies; and who has experience in the development and administration of grant and contract programs. Lawrence Y. True was a conservative Episcopalian; Bonnie Lange was a practicing Mormon; and Kevin Munnelly is a Roman Catholic. Lawrence Y. True was named Trustee in the JHJ Testamentary Will.

Members and Organizations of the Freethought Community are urged to write Attorney General Lockyer through James M. Cordi, that he so petitions the Probate Court. The address is:

Attorney General Bill Lockyer State of California
c/o James M. Cordi Supervising Deputy Attorney General
300 South Spring Street, Rm 5212
Los Angeles, CA 90013

It is requested that copies of such letters be sent to:

James W. Prescott, Ph.D., Director
Institute of Humanistic Science
9 Midline Drive #2-23
Slaterville Springs, NY 14887

Although, the current actions of the Attorney General are confined to fiduciary matters, the Institute of Humanistic Science has also apprized the AG of significant violations of the purpose of the JHJ Testamentary Will and Reform Trust, namely, "to expose religion as against reason", where matters of New Age Religion, UFOs, space aliens, crystal and pyramid power, etc., have been advocated in the pages of the Truth Seeker Magazine.

Not the least of this betrayal was the publication of the article "Atheists Must Accept God" in the Winter 1990 edition of the Truth Seeker by Melvin Kornbluth, which was published over the strong objections of Dr. Prescott, then Editor, Truth Seeker. Dr. Prescott was not permitted to publish an editorial disclaimer on that article by Bonnie Lange, President, Truth Seeker Corporation. Dr. Prescott was removed as Editor, Truth Seeker the following month by Bonnie Lange for his actions opposing the publication of the article "Atheists Must Accept God" in the Truth Seeker, as contrary to the JHJ Testamentary Will and the Reform Trust.

Hopefully, the above and many other related issues that have violated the substance and objectives of the JHJ Testamentary Will and the Reform Trust will be addressed in further actions by the Attorney General.

The litigation associated with the actions of the Attorney General can be expected to be protracted with appeals by the various Defendants, unless some plea bargain that serves justice can be reached that would permit the appointment of a new Trustee and General Counsel that will restore order and integrity to the JHJ Trusts in a timely manner.

At least, we can see the light at the end of this long, dark tunnel and that this ten-year effort has achieved some level of success. The many problems encountered by the Institute of Humanistic Science in the pursuit of justice, e.g. lack of "standing" and other legal-judicial matters needs legislative attention and reform. The overwhelming number of complaints filed before the Registry of Charitable Trusts, State of California is supportive of such legislative oversight hearings and actions.

Acknowledgment is made of the efforts by Dr. Robert John of New York, who has been the only other person that has sought corrective actions of the abuses of the JHJ Trusts before the Attorney General, State of California. Fortunately, Dr. John did not file any lawsuits on this matter that would have incurred the wrath of the courts and "sanctions," which the Courts have given other litigants for this noble cause.

Special thanks and acknowledgment is given to Lloyd and Mary Morain, who have supported the many activities of the Institute of Humanistic Science over the years. Without their support, the review and actions of the Attorney General on the JHJ Trusts would not have proceeded, which resulted from the petitions and actions of the Institute of Humanistic Science for such review and action. The appreciation for the confidence that Lloyd and Mary Morain has given the Institute of Humanistic Science in this and its other activities cannot be overstated. It is deeply regretted that Mary Morain is not with us for her to witness the fruit of her generosity and support, which she and Lloyd have given to this worthy cause and to many other worthy causes throughout their life.

Additional reports will be filed, as appropriate. All Freethought Organizations are encouraged to reprint this Special Report in their newsletters so that their membership is apprized of these developments. San Diego Humanists are encouraged to attend the court hearing scheduled for November 7, 2000 at 10:30 AM in the Probate Court, San Diego County. (1920 words)

James W. Prescott, Ph.D.
Institute of Humanistic Science
9 Midline Drive #2-23
Slaterville Springs, NY 14887
607.539.7629
jwprescott www.violence.de

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