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Keith Henson

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Keith Henson
File:Keithhenson.jpg
Keith Henson in Clearwater, Florida
Born1942
United States
NationalityAmerican
CitizenshipUnited States
Alma materUniversity of Arizona, electrical engineering
Known forL5 Society, founding member
National Space Society, lifetime member
Scientific career
Fieldselectrical engineer, life extension, cryonics, memetics, Evolutionary psychology

Howard Keith Henson (born 1942) is an American electrical engineer and writer on life extension, cryonics, memetics and Evolutionary psychology. In 1975 he and his then-wife Carolyn Meinel founded the L5 Society, which promoted space colonization and which was eventually folded into the National Space Society. More recently, Henson's outspoken criticism of the Church of Scientology and subsequent legal woes have gained him headlines.

Early Influences

Keith Henson grew up as an “army brat” attending seven schools before 7th grade. His father, Lt. Col. Howard W. Henson (1909-2001), was a decorated US Army officer who spent much of his career in Army Intelligence. The science-fiction author Robert A. Heinlein played a major role in influencing his early life. Henson graduated from Prescott High School shortly after his father retired, before attending the University of Arizona and receiving a degree in Electrical Engineering.

Druid Days

Henson was known at the University of Arizona as one of the founders of the Druid Student Center, where a campus humor newspaper, The Frumious Bandersnatch was published in the late 1960s. (The Druids were also known for making UFOs. [1]) He later cited an incident that occurred in his student days as a good example of memetic replication. When asked to fill in a form that required him to disclose his religious affiliations, he wrote "Druid." His prank was soon noticed by other students and before long almost 20% of the student body had registered themselves as Reform Druids, Orthodox Druids, Members of the Church of the nth Druid, Zen Druids, Latter-Day Druids and so on. The university was forced to remove the religious affiliation question, breaking the chain of replication and variation.[2]

During much of this period, Henson worked at a geophysics company, mostly running induced polarization surveys in the western US and Peru. Henson also programmed geophysical type cases and wrote data reduction programs for the company.

Analog Engineering

After graduation, Henson went to work for Burr-Brown Research, now merged into Texas Instruments. While there, he worked on extremely low distortion quadrature oscillators and non-linear function modules--multipliers, vector adders and root-mean-square modules. His first patent was a design for a 4-quadrant log-antilog multiplier.

During this time Henson became familiar with the System dynamics work of Jay W. Forrester.

After Burr Brown, Henson worked for a company in Tucson, Arizona, where he was fired for refusing to certify an electronic module for a nuclear power plant that failed to meet a required MTBF specification.[citation needed] (Failure of similar modules contributed to the partial melt down of the Fermi reactor near Detroit.)

He then set up his own company, Analog Precision Inc., producing specialized computer interface equipment and related industrial control devices.

L5 Society

In the mid-1970s Henson was introduced to the Space colonization work of Dr. Gerard K. O'Neill of Princeton University, by the physicist Dr. Dan Jones [3], an occasional rock climbing partner of Henson. To promote these ideas, Henson and his then-wife, Carolyn Meinel, founded the L5 Society in 1975.[4][5]

Henson co-wrote papers for three Space Manufacturing conferences at Princeton. The 1977 and 1979 papers were co-authored with Eric Drexler. Patents were issued on both subjects — vapor phase fabrication and space radiators.

In 1980, Henson testified before the United States Congress when the L5 Society successfully opposed the Moon Treaty. The society was represented by Leigh Ratiner (later a figure in the Inslaw proceedings). The experience eventually became an article by the name of "Star Laws," jointly written by Henson and Arel Lucas and published in Reason Magazine.

Cryonics

In 1985, having been convinced by Eric Drexler that nanotechnology provided a route to make it work, Henson, his wife and their 2-year old daughter signed up with Alcor for cryonic suspension. Following the Dora Kent problems [6], Henson became increasingly active. After Alcor had to freeze their chief surgeon, he learned enough surgery to put several cryonics patients on cardiac bypass. He also wrote a column for Alcor’s magazine for a few years.

In that same year, Henson moved to Silicon Valley, consulting for a number of firms, and eventually debugging garbage collection software for the last stage of Project Xanadu. He was still working for the company that bought the Xanadu license when Scientology lawyer Helena Kobrin tried to destroy the news group alt.religion.scientology (see Scientology versus the Internet).

Memetics

Henson's wife, Arel Lucas, was credited by Douglas Hofstadter in Metamagical Themas for suggesting the study of memes be called memetics. Henson wrote two articles on memes in 1987, one published in Analog, the other, Memes, MetaMemes and Politics, circulated on the internet before being printed.

Eric S. Raymond, a long-time friend of Henson's, saw one of the early drafts of a later paper on memes and religion and has publicly credited it as an influence on the theory of peer-esteem rewards he developed to explain the open-source movement. Richard Dawkins, who originated the concept of memes, approvingly cites in his book The Selfish Gene Henson's coining of the neologism "memeoids" to refer to "victims who have been taken over by a meme to the extent that their own survival becomes inconsequential".[7]

Extropians

Henson participated in the difficult-to-find early Extropian news group, and was the memetics editor for Extropy Magazine when it was a paper publication.

Henson versus Scientology

Template:ScientologySeries Henson has become one of the focal points of the ongoing struggle between the Church of Scientology and its critics, often referred to as Scientology versus the Internet. Henson is a staunch critic of Scientology; in response, the Church has repeatedly declared that Henson is a criminal and a terrorist.

Henson entered the Scientology battle when it was at its most heated, in the mid-1990s. In 1996, many of Scientology's "secret writings" (see Scientology beliefs and practices) were released onto the Internet, and Scientology embarked on a massive worldwide campaign to keep them from being spread to the general public. Henson examined these writings, entitled New Era Dianetics (known as NOTS in Scientology, and to the organization's critics), and from his examination of these "secret" documents, he claimed that Scientology was committing medical fraud.

The NOTS documents, he said, contained detailed instructions for the treatment of physical ailments and illnesses through the use of Scientology practices. However, a Supreme Court decision in 1971 had declared that Scientology's writings were meant for "purely spiritual" purposes, and all Scientology books published since then have included disclaimers stating that Scientology's E-meter device "does nothing" and does not cure any physical ailments (United States v. Founding Church of Scientology et al., US District Court, District of Columbia 333 F. Supp. 357, July 30, 1971 [2]). The NOTS procedures, Henson claimed, were a violation of this decision. To prove his claim, Henson posted two pages from the NOTS documents onto the Usenet newsgroup alt.religion.scientology.

The Church of Scientology immediately threatened to sue Henson, but he did not back down from his claims. Immediately afterwards, Henson was served with a lawsuit by the church's legal arm, the Religious Technology Center, (RTC). Henson defended himself in order to avoid the massive legal costs incurred in a Scientology lawsuit (see Scientology and the Legal System). After a lengthy court battle involving massive amounts of paperwork, Henson was found guilty of copyright infringement. He was ordered to pay $75,000 in fines, an amount trumpeted by the church as the largest copyright damages award ever levied against an individual. However, it is estimated that the organization spent a total of about $2 million in litigation against Henson.

Henson declared bankruptcy in response to the judgment, though the church dogged him through every step of the filing process. Henson began protesting Scientology regularly, standing outside of Scientology's film studio, the Gold Base, with a picket sign. The organization sought assistance from the authorities; Henson was arrested, and subsequently brought on trial for criminal charges.

Ken Hoden, the general manager of Golden Era Productions (the Church of Scientology's film production facility), claimed Henson was a stalker with extensive background in explosives. (According to LA Weekly, Henson worked in the 1970s for a geophysics company in Arizona. During that time, Henson arranged pyrotechnic parties in the desert which have been described[4] as "similar to Burning Man".) Hoden compared Henson to Timothy McVeigh. "Based on evidence we were able to collect off the Internet, his intention was to destroy [Golden Era Productions, the Church of Scientology's film production facility] utterly, to leave not one stone unturned." However, Sheriff’s Detective Tony Greer, Riverside County lead investigator, said: "In reviewing all of the Internet postings I did not see any direct threat of violence towards the church or any personnel of the church."[8]

Hoden also claimed that Scientology's prosecution of Henson had nothing to do with Scientology's Fair Game policy, claiming that no such policy existed.[8] Twelve years before Hoden's statement, however, the Church had claimed in Wollersheim v. the Church of Scientology that Fair Game was a constitutionally protected "core practice" of Scientology, which the appellate court denied.

Henson was charged with three misdemeanors by California Law: making terrorist threats, attempting to make terrorist threats (California Penal Code, section 11418.5), and making threats to interfere with freedom to enjoy a constitutional privilege. During the course of the case, the prosecution filed several successful motions in limine to exclude substantive portions of Henson's attempted defense, including testimony from other protesters about their encounters, a former Scientologist about the organization, and the opinion (above) of Tony Greer; mention of the Fair Game practice for the purpose of impeaching prosecution witnesses; mention of the prior events at that compound which formed the basis of Henson's protest; or evidence of the context of the messages wherein the alleged threats were made.[9]

The jury verdict of the trial resulted in Henson being convicted of one of the three charges: "interfering with a religion." This charge carried a prison term of six months. On the other two charges, the jury did not agree.[10]

Henson, who had been pursued relentlessly by the church since the original lawsuit over three years previous, stated his belief that if he went to prison, his life would be placed in jeopardy.[11] Rather than serve his sentence, Henson chose to enter Canada and apply for political asylum. Henson lived quietly in Brantford for three years while he awaited the decision. His request was ultimately denied and, in 2005, he was ordered to present himself for deportation and transfer to US authorities. Instead, Henson fled to the United States and later presented himself to the Canadian consulate in Detroit. He then settled in Prescott, Arizona where he remained for two years until his recent arrest by Arizona authorities.[12]

The Electronic Frontier Foundation, as well as Henson's supporters on the USENET newsgroup alt.religion.scientology, claim his trial was biased, unfair and a mockery of justice. Henson was prohibited by the trial judge, for example, from arguing that copying documents for the purpose of criticism is fair use.[13]

Current status

Ontario, Canada (2001-2005)

Henson lived in Brantford, Ontario from 2001 to 2005 and worked as an electronics engineer. After spending three years there, Henson was finally notified that a decision had been reached on his application. He was instructed to appear in person at a meeting on September 14, 2005, to learn what the decision was. The implication was that a negative decision would result in his being deported back to the US by Canadian law enforcement.

"I'm not going to be shoved across the border into the hands of Scientologists," Henson said last week as he began packing. "I'll go to the border somewhere else, hand in my papers and disappear, preferably to a state where you can legitimately shoot bounty hunters."

Citing concern over his personal safety in such an event (since Scientology might find out the handover time and place), Henson chose to instead quietly leave Brantford the previous night. He notified the Canadian government by fax that he had left Canada of his own accord.

Arizona (2007)

Henson's location as of February 3, 2007 was the Yavapai Detention Center in Prescott, Arizona, awaiting possible extradition to Riverside County, California. Henson has previously received death threats to the effect that he would be killed while serving his sentence. At the "initial appearance" hearing on Monday, February 5, 2007, Henson stated through counsel[14] [15] that he is fighting extradition and requested release. Judge Lindberg set a future court date for March 5, 2007 at 1:30 pm in the Prescott Justice Court, and fixed the security for his release at $7,500 cash or bond, with standard conditions.

Shortly after setting the bond amount, the Riverside County District Attorney, via the Yavapai County Attorney, motioned the court to deny bond, stating, "It is the People's belief that If Keith Henson is allowed to be released on bond that he will not appear in court. Therefore, the People would respectfully request that Keith Henson not be allowed on bond and continue in custody pending the issuance of the Governor’s Warrant," [16] causing the court to raise the bond to $500,000.

During a hastily arranged and telephonic hearing, Henson's attorney objected to the dramatically increased bond, as the allegation was a mere misdemeanor (contrasted with the fugitive warrant which claimed Henson was wanted on felonies, and the motion which omitted the offense classification). After the County Attorney confirmed that the charge was indeed a misdemeanor, during a follow-up telephonic hearing, the County Attorney agreed that the $7,500 bond was sufficient to assure Keith's appearance at the March 5, 2007 hearing, but the court granted a defense motion to lower the bond to $5,000. Henson's release on bond was secured at around 7:30 pm.[17]

The Extropy Institute has set up a legal fund, entitled: "Henson Legal Support Fund"[18], to help with Henson's defense[19][20].

In spite of these distractions, Henson finished a space elevator presentation for a European Space Agency conference. The paper was presented by proxy Feb. 28, 2007.[3]

As of March 2, 2007, the extradition hearing for Henson was postponed for sixty days, to May 8, 2007, at the request of Henson's attorney and the County attorney[21][22].

At his release from jail, Henson was handed paper work from Riverside County, including a warrant from Sept. 15, 2000. [4] The warrant and the court docket supports Henson's long standing claim that the Riverside DA office and the Riverside courts were engaged in criminal acts. The matter has been reported to the FBI [5] [6] and the Riverside County Counsel. [7]

Works

References

  1. ^ Bay Area Skeptics Information Sheet, Vol. 6, No. 9, Editor: Kent Harker
  2. ^ Nadin, Mihai. The Civilization of Illiteracy, p. 407. DUP, 1997. ISBN 3931828387
  3. ^ Giving to New Mexico Tech, New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology, retrieved 02-05-07.
  4. ^ a b Regis, Ed. The Great Mambo Chicken and the Transhuman Condition: Science Slightly Over the Edge. Reading, Mass.: Addison-Wesley Publishing Company.ISBN 0201567512
  5. ^ Mark, Hans. The Space Station: A Personal Journey, p. 54. Duke University Press, 1987. ISBN 0822307278
  6. ^ Dora Kent: Questions and Answers, Alcor Life Extension Foundation, Excerpted from Cryonics, March 1988
  7. ^ Dawkins, Richard. The Selfish Gene, p.330. Oxford University Press, 1989. ISBN 0192860925
  8. ^ a b Gale Holland (2001-06-20). "Unfair Game: Scientologists Get Their Man". LA Weekly. Retrieved 2007-02-09. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  9. ^ Trial records, The People of the State of California v. H. Keith Henson, CASE NO: HEM014371
  10. ^ Riverside County Superior Court Case Report
  11. ^ Google Groups Archive of posting of Henson's fax where he stated "I am all too aware that going back to the US puts my life in danger."
  12. ^ Gamble, Susan (2007-02-07). "Man critical of Scientology, who fled Brantford in 2005, is arrested in United States". Brantford Expositor. Retrieved 2007-02-10. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  13. ^ http://www.eff.org/effector/HTML/effect14.13.html#II
  14. ^ http://kielsky.com
  15. ^ http://attorney.kielsky.com/Henson/HensonNotice.pdf
  16. ^ http://attorney.kielsky.com/Henson/HensonMotion.tif
  17. ^ McCullagh, Declan (2007-02-05). "'Tom Cruise' missile jokester arrested". CNET News.com. Retrieved 2007-02-09. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  18. ^ http://www.extropy.org/membership.htm
  19. ^ Scientology foe Keith Henson arrested, defense mobilized, Institute for Ethics and Emerging Technologies, February 4, 2007. George Dvorsky.
  20. ^ Henson Legal Support Fund, February 3, 2007., Extropy Institute, 501(c)(3) non-profit Educational Organization founded in 1991
    "100% of all donations received will go to Arel Lucus on behalf of Keith."
  21. ^ Lucas, Arel., OperatingThetan.com, March 2, 2007., retrieved 3/7/07.
  22. ^ Prescott Justice Court, Criminal Docket, Case 2007020065J[1]

Biographical info

Bibliographical info

Media/Press mention

1998
2001
2007


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