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Rick Alan Ross
Born (1952-11-24) November 24, 1952 (age 72)
Cleveland, Ohio, U.S.
Occupation(s)Founder & Executive Director,
Rick A. Ross Institute
WebsiteCult News
The Rick A. Ross Institute

Rick Alan Ross (born 1952 in Cleveland, Ohio, United States named Ricky Alan Ross) is a consultant, lecturer and "intervention specialist," with an interest in exit counseling or deprogramming people from cults. He runs the CultNews.com blog and founded The Ross Institute of New Jersey in 2003, which maintains a database of information about controversial groups including press articles, court documents, and essays. He has worked as an expert witness and an analyst for the media in cases relating to such groups.

Ross has been criticized by some of the groups concerned, by scholars who study new religious movements (NRMs), and by other individuals in relation to the roles he played in the controversial "deprogramming" case of Jason Scott and the ill-fated FBI standoff with the Branch Davidians.

Life and work

Early life

Rick Ross was adopted by Paul and Ethel Ross in 1953 in Cleveland, Ohio. The Ross family moved to Phoenix, Arizona in 1956, where Ross grew up and attended school. Ross's formal education extended through high school, which he completed in 1971. He then worked for a finance company and a bank. In 1974, Ross was convicted for the attempted burglary of a show house and sentenced to probation. One year later, he was sentenced to five years' probation for his involvement in a jewelry embezzlement scheme at a retail store in Arizona. Ross has openly admitted his mistakes: "I had been in trouble as a young man, and I turned my life around ... I never again in my life made another mistake like that." In 1983 the Maricopa County Superior Court vacated both judgments of guilt in the absence of any opposition, dismissed the charges and restored Ross's civil rights. In 1975, he began work for a cousin's car salvage business, eventually becoming company vice president. He continued working in this field until 1982.

Early career

Ross says he first became concerned about controversial religious groups in 1982, when Jewish Voice Broadcast, a missionary group founded by an Assembly of God minister that specifically targeted Jews for conversion to Pentecostalism, infiltrated the Jewish nursing home where his grandmother was a resident. After bringing the matter to the attention of the director and the local Jewish community, he successfully campaigned to have the group's activities stopped. He then began working as a volunteer, lecturer and researcher for a variety of Jewish organizations. He worked for the Jewish Federation of Greater Phoenix, and was appointed to two national committees by the Union of American Hebrew Congregations (UAHC), focusing on cults and interreligious affairs. During the 1980s Ross represented the Jewish community on the Religious Advisory Committee of the Arizona Department of Corrections, being elected its chairman later on, and served as chairman of the International Coalition of Jewish Prisoners Programs sponsored by B'nai Brith in Washington D.C. Ross's work within the prison system included inmate religious rights and educational efforts regarding hate groups. Ross was also a member of the professional staff of Jewish Family and Children's Service (JFCS) and the Bureau of Jewish Education (BJE) in Phoenix, Arizona.

Full-time private consultant and lecturer

In 1986 Ross left the staff of the JFCS and BJE to become a full-time private consultant and deprogrammer. As part of his work, he undertook a number of involuntary deprogramming interventions, at the request of parents whose children had joined controversial groups and movements. One of these cases, the successful deprogramming of a 14-year-old who his mother felt had been "brainwashed" by a Bible-based cult, was covered in an edition of 48 Hours. As of 2004, Ross had handled more than 350 deprogramming cases in various countries including the United States, the United Kingdom, Israel and Italy, the typical cost today being around $5,000 per case. His claimed success rate is 75 per cent, and he has been credited with having rescued many people from harmful environments.

In 1992 and 1993, Ross gained a high public profile due to his involvement in the events surrounding David Koresh and the Branch Davidians at Waco, Texas; CBS hired him as an on-scene analyst for their coverage of the Waco siege, and he was also reported to have acted as a consultant to the FBI. In 1995, Ross was bankrupted by substantial damages awarded against him in a civil trial related to the unsuccessful deprogramming of Jason Scott, an 18-year-old member of a United Pentecostal Church in Bellevue, Washington. Ross had been acquitted in an earlier criminal trial related to the Jason Scott case. He settled with Scott for a far smaller amount in 1996.

In 1996, Ross started a website which serves as a public database about controversial groups and movements. Ross has lectured at the University of Pennsylvania, University of Chicago and University of Arizona and has testified as an expert witness in thirteen states. According to his publicly posted CV, he has been a paid consultant for the television networks CBS, CBC and Nippon of Japan and retained as a technical consultant by Miramax/Disney for the Jane Campion film Holy Smoke!. As a result of the legal risks involved, notably the vulnerability to criminal charges and civil trials for kidnapping and false imprisonment, Ross no longer advocates coercive deprogramming or involuntary interventions for adults, preferring instead voluntary "exit counseling" without the use of force or restraint. He states that although the process has been refined over the years, exit counseling and deprogramming are still based on the same principles.

Rick A. Ross Institute

Ross moved to New Jersey in 2001 and two years later founded the Rick A. Ross Institute for the Study of Destructive Cults and Controversial Groups and Movements, a nonprofit, 501(c)(3) public charity located in New Jersey, USA. Its stated mission is "public education and research," largely accomplished through its website, which also advertises Ross's own for-profit services as an exit counselor and expert witness, along with his professional fees. The Advisory Board of the RRI includes Ford Greene, a California attorney specialized in cult related litigation, as well as Flo Conway and Jim Siegelman, co-authors of the books Snapping: America's Epidemic of Sudden Personality Change and Holy Terror: The Fundamentalist War on America's Freedoms in Religion, Politics and Our Private Lives. Psychologist Margaret Singer was also a board member of the Institute until her death.

Notable cases

The Jason Scott case

Main article: Jason Scott case

In January 1991, Ross attempted an involuntary deprogramming of Jason Scott, an 18-year-old member of the Life Tabernacle Church, affiliated with the United Pentecostal Church International. Ross was hired by Kathy Tonkin, Scott's mother, who herself had joined the church with her six children in 1989, but had since withdrawn from it. Tonkin was introduced to Ross by the Cult Awareness Network (CAN). Ross abducted Scott with the help of three associates. Scott was handcuffed, had duct tape placed over his mouth, and was held in a seaside cottage where he was restrained and told he would only be released once the deprogramming was completed. Scott claimed he was then subjected "to a nearly constant barrage of verbal abuse intended to force Scott to renounce his faith." After five days of unsuccessful deprogramming, Scott escaped and called the police, who arrested Ross.

In 1993, Ross and two associates were criminally charged with unlawful imprisonment. Ross's defence laywer argued that Ross "was hired to deprogram Scott but that others who restrained Scott were not under Ross's control." The jury acquitted Ross; jurors said "prosecutors had not proved Ross participated in restraining Scott." Ross's associates pled guilty to coercion and were sentenced to one-year jail terms, with all but 30 days suspended.

A civil suit against Ross, his associates and CAN was filed on behalf of Scott by Scientologist Kendrick Moxon, to determine whether Scott's civil rights had been violated. The jury held the defendants liable for negligence, conspiracy to deprive Scott of his rights, and the tort of outrage. Scott was awarded $875,000 in compensatory damages, with additional punitive damages of $2,500,000 against Ross, $1,000,000 against CAN, and $250,000 each against Ross's associates. The judge commented that the defendants appeared unable to appreciate the maliciousness of their conduct towards Scott, preferring instead to see themselves as victims of a vendetta. Hence the substantial damages awarded seemed necessary in order to deter similar conduct in future. The judgment drove CAN and Ross into bankruptcy. In 1996, Scott reconciled with his mother, dismissed Moxon as his lawyer, and settled with Ross for $5,000, and 200 hours of Ross's services.

Branch Davidians

Rick Ross was involved before and during the standoff between Branch Davidians and Federal Law Enforcement agencies, at Waco, Texas; he had previously deprogrammed a member of the group. A number of scholars of religion and sociology have commented on his involvement. Professors of Religious Studies James D. Tabor and Eugene V. Gallagher, writing in Why Waco? (1997, University of California Press), commented that Ross, acting as an informant for government agencies and media journalists, was instrumental in establishing a simplified image of Koresh as a dangerous cult leader, using the generalized pattern of a destructive cult, and that Ross's activities, along with those of apostates, significantly shaped the viewpoints of government parties acting in the case. Tabor and Gallagher expressed the opinion that Ross's statements may be evaluated in the context of the financial and ideological stakes anticult workers like Ross have in "cultbusting".

Nancy Ammerman, a professor of Sociology of Religion and one of four experts commissioned to author a Report to the Justice and Treasury Departments on events in Waco, similarly voiced criticism of the BATF and FBI for relying on Ross without taking these stakes into account. Noting that anti-cult workers like Ross often described themselves as "cult experts", she pointed out that they are "certainly not recognized as such by the academic community". She added that scholars who had studied the Branch Davidians for much of their history had been available, yet remained unconsulted, demonstrating the "preference given to anti-cult psychological tactics over strategies that would meet the group on grounds that took faith seriously".

George D. Chryssides expressed the opinion that the authorities' confrontational approach that led to the Waco tragedy was undoubtedly exacerbated by the advice they received from Ross. He stated that Ross endorsed the view that the community in Waco was about to become another Jonestown, and was ready for mass suicide. Chryssides took the view that the involvement of an academic adviser more familiar with the religious ideas preached at Waco might have led to a less tragic outcome. Similar criticisms concerning Ross's bias and lack of qualifications to act as an adviser to the BATF and FBI in Waco have been put forward by Catherine Wessinger (Loyola University New Orleans), the political scientist George Michael, and James R. Lewis in a book edited by Stuart A. Wright. Ross responded to some of these critics in a 1995 letter to the editor of the Washington Post.

Landmark Education

For details see Landmark Education - Legal disputes - Rick Ross Institute

In June 2004, Landmark Education filed a US$1 million lawsuit against the Rick A. Ross Institute, claiming that the Institute's online archives damaged Landmark's product. In December 2005, Landmark filed to dismiss its own lawsuit with prejudice, supposedly on the grounds that a material change in caselaw regarding statements made on the Internet occurred in January 2005.

NXIVM Corp. v. Ross

NXIVM (pronounced NEX-ee-um) offers an exclusive and costly seminar training program, "Executive Success". Ross obtained a copy of the course manual from a former program participant, and commissioned psychologist Paul Martin and psychiatrist John Hochman to write an analysis and critique of the manual. The reports were published on Ross's websites and quoted sections of the manual to support the analyses and criticisms. They also contained statements which, NXIVM alleged, misled readers into thinking that the Executive Success program was a "cult". In 2003, NXIVM sued Ross and a number of co-defendants for, among others, copyright infringement, trademark disparagement and product disparagement, and sought an injunction to have the material removed. The injunction was denied, the judge ruling that the use of quotations constituted fair use. In 2004, the ruling was affirmed on appeal by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, which stated that any damage to the market for NXIVM's product resulted from criticism, which weighed in favor of fair use, rather than substitution (which would have weighed against fair use). Later that year, the United States Supreme Court refused to review the case. NXIVM then filed an amended complaint, parts of which have been dismissed; litigation is still ongoing.

Articles and Publications

See also

References

  1. Curriculum Vitae of Rick Ross." Accessed 26 February 2008 at http://www.cultinformation.org.uk/articles.html
  2. Cult News website
  3. "Information Database". www.rickross.com.
  4. ^ Johnstone, Nick (2004-12-12). "Beyond Belief". The Observer. Retrieved 2008-10-24.
  5. ^ Rick Ross's Biography
  6. ^ Willis, Stacy J. Arrival of cult specialist in Las Vegas stirs debate, Las Vegas Sun, 24 August 2001
  7. Maricopa County, Superior Court ruling
  8. Evans, Pete (Nov./Dec. 2004). "The Door interview with Rick Ross". The Door Magazine. Retrieved 2008-11-03. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  9. Taking Aim: Efforts to convert Jews draw fire from interdenominational group, The Arizona Republic, 1982, by Richard Lessner, as hosted on rickross.com
  10. Cleveland Jewish News, 29 July 2004. KABBALAH CENTRE hawks 'snake oil for the soul
  11. Challenging Cults, Cultivating Family, The Greater Phoenix Jewish News, February, 1989, by Elaine DeRosa, as hosted on rickross.com
  12. Ross to head religious committee for state corrections department, Greater Phoenix Jewish News, 12 March 1986, as hosted on rickross.com
  13. Three Nation Umbrella Org. to Aid Jewish Prison Inmates, Families, National "Jewish Press", April 1986, as hosted on rickross.com
  14. Curriculum Vitae, Rick Ross web site
  15. Goodman, Walter (1989-06-01). "Review/Television; Trying to Pry a Youth Away From a Cult". New York Times. Retrieved 2008-10-24.
  16. Ross, Rick. "Intervention: Costs". Retrieved 2008-11-03. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  17. ^ Ortega, Tony (1995-11-30). "Hush, Hush, Sweet Charlatans. Clients of deprogrammer Rick Ross call him a savior. Perhaps that's why people he's branded cult leaders want to crucify him". Phoenix New Times. Retrieved 2006-04-27. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  18. Minister Sues Cult Expert, Palm Beach Post, Jul 14, 2001
  19. Cult Experts List, FACT.net, 2006
  20. ^ Rick Ross. "Deprogramming". Intervention. Retrieved 10 August. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
  21. ^ "NXIVM Corp. v. Ross". Citizen Media Law Project. 2007-01-10. Retrieved 2008-11-03. {{cite web}}: |first= missing |last= (help)
  22. ^ Haines, Thomas W. (1995-09-21). "'Deprogrammer' Taken To Court -- Bellevue Man Claims Kidnap, Coercion". Seattle Times. Retrieved 2008-10-14.
  23. Kent, Stephen A.; Krebs, Theresa (1998), "When Scholars Know Sin. Alternative Religions and Their Academic Supporters", Skeptic, 6 (3)
  24. ^ Shupe, Anson (2006). Agents of Discord. New Brunswick (U.S.A.), London (U.K.): Transaction Publishers. pp. pp. 180–184. ISBN 0-7658-0323-2. {{cite book}}: |pages= has extra text (help); Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help). The account given in Shupe/Darnell is "based closely on court documents and testimonies, including Scott's own under-oath account of his deprogramming experience." The court documents referred to are cited on page 194 of Shupe/Darnell.
  25. ^ "UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT: JASON SCOTT, Plaintiff-Appellee v. RICK ROSS, A/K/A/ RICKEY ALLEN ROSS, MARK WORKMAN, CHARLES SIMPSON, Defendants, CULT AWARENESS NETWORK, Defendant-Appellant". CESNUR. Retrieved 2008-10-13. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  26. ^ Cockburn, Alexander (1996-08-26). "Vindication II: That Fool Adolph". The Nation. 263 (6). The Nation Company L.P.: p. 8. {{cite journal}}: |pages= has extra text (help); Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  27. ^ Bromley, David G. (2003). The Politics of Religious Apostasy. Westport, CT: Greenwood Publishing Group. pp. pp. 99–100. ISBN 0275955087. {{cite book}}: |pages= has extra text (help); Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  28. Narinsky, Judy (1995-11-01). "Q & A Brainwashed. Rick Ross talks about deprogramming members of religious cults". Willamette Week. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help), as hosted on rickross.com
  29. "Deprogrammers Plead Not Guilty To Holding A Bellevue Teenager 5 Days, Against His Will". Associated Press. Seattle Times. 1993-08-17. Retrieved 2008-10-14.
  30. ^ ""Cult Buster" Acquitted In Abduction". Seattle Times. 1994-01-19. Retrieved 2008-11-01.
  31. ^ "Eastside Journal – Glad It's Over". Seattle Times. 1994-01-21. Retrieved 2008-10-17.
  32. "Scott vs. Ross, Workman, Simpson, Cult Awareness Network: Verdict form (page 6)". CESNUR. Retrieved 21 October. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
  33. JASON SCOTT, PLAINTIFF v. RICK ROSS, A/K/A/ RICKEY ALLEN ROSS, MARK WORKMAN, CHARLES SIMPSON, CULT AWARENESS NETWORK, A CALIFORNIA NONPROFIT CORPORATION AND JOHN DOE 1–JOHN DOE 20, DEFENDANTS. Case No. C94-00796. November 29, 1995
  34. ^ "Scott vs. Ross, Workman, Simpson, Cult Awareness Network: Verdict form". CESNUR. Retrieved 12 October. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
  35. "Scott vs. Ross, Workman, Simpson, Cult Awareness Network: Verdict form (page 5)". CESNUR. Retrieved 15 October. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
  36. Scott v. Ross (Ninth Circuit Panel Opinion En Banc Opinions)
  37. "Scott vs. Ross, Workman, Simpson, Cult Awareness Network: Verdict form (page 3)". CESNUR. Retrieved 16 October. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
  38. Knapp, Dan (1996-12-19). "Group that once criticized Scientologists now owned by one". CNN. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  39. 'The Cult Awareness Network, CBS News 60 Minutes report 28 December 1997
  40. Goodstein, Laurie (1996-12-23). "New Twist In Anti-Cult Saga: Foe Is Now Ally -- Bellevue Man Who Put Group Into Bankruptcy Fires Scientology Lawyer". Washington Post. Seattle Times. Retrieved 2008-10-21.
  41. Ortega, Tony (1996-12-19). "What's $2.995 Million Between Former Enemies?". Phoenix New Times. Retrieved 2008-10-21.
  42. ^ Tabor, James D. (1997). Why Waco?. University of California Press. pp. pp. 93–96, 138–139, 233. ISBN 0520208994. {{cite book}}: |pages= has extra text (help); Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  43. US Department of Justice, Report to the Deputy Attorney General on the Events at Waco, Texas: Part IV, The Role of Experts During the Standoff, 28 February to 19 April 1993. Available online
  44. ^ Report to the Justice and Treasury Departments, Nancy Ammerman, September 3, 1993, with an Addendum dated September 10, 1993
  45. Waco, Federal Law Enforcement, and Scholars of Religion, Nancy Ammerman, 1993
  46. ^ Chryssides, George D. (1999). Exploring New Religions. Continuum International Publishing Group. pp. pp. 55–56. ISBN 0826459595. {{cite book}}: |pages= has extra text (help); Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  47. Newport, Kenneth G. C. (2006). Expecting the End. Baylor University Press. pp. pp. 155–171. ISBN 1932792384. {{cite book}}: |pages= has extra text (help); Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  48. Wessinger, Catherine Lowman (2000). How the Millennium Comes Violently. New York, NY/London, UK: Seven Bridges Press. pp. pp. 1, 69, 98. ISBN 1889119245. {{cite book}}: |pages= has extra text (help); Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  49. Michael, George (2003). Confronting Right-wing Extremism and Terrorism. New York, NY/London, UK: Routledge. pp. p. 148. ISBN 041531500X. {{cite book}}: |pages= has extra text (help); Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  50. Wright, Stuart A. (ed.) (1995). Armageddon in Waco. University of Chicago Press. pp. pp. 98–100. ISBN 0226908453. {{cite book}}: |first= has generic name (help); |pages= has extra text (help); Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  51. "Letters to the Editor - What Happened at Waco". The Washington Post. 1995-07-23. Retrieved 2008-11-04. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help); Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  52. Hochman, John M.D. (February 2003). "A Forensic Psychiatrist Evaluates ESP". www.rickross.com. Retrieved 2008-11-03.
  53. Martin, Paul (2003-02-12). "A Critical Analysis of the Executive Success Programs Inc". www.rickross.com. Retrieved 2008-11-03.

External links

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