So You Are in Prison Or Are a Minor and Someone Experiments on You. So What? Sue

by Mary W Maxwell, LLB

I recently made a video about suing the CIA and the hospitals and universities involved in MK-Ultra. A few minutes ago I decided to see how many hits it has had on Youtube, so I googled “Lawsuits for MK-Ultra.”

To my surprise, up came a 1982 article from the Washington Post. Author: Jack Anderson.  He was a pre-Gumshoe Gumshoe. Or so it was believed.  Let me quote from his article.”

“… CIA confessions were extracted in writing by Atlanta attorney Tomas E Maddox, JR, who represents four of the prisoners who were experimented on in the Atlanta federal penitentiary in the 1950s and 1960s. They are seeking $500,000 apiece in damages from the government.

One of the prisoners, Farrell V Kirk was used as a chemical mixing bowl; even though the CIA knew he was mentally unstable.”

And so forth.  I do not want to drag the reader though the gore.  Jack Anderson then went on to say what the Justice Department had offered to refute or excuse the claims

“MK-ULTRA research was to develop chemical and radiological materials for use in clandestine operations [I’ll say] to control human behavior. And “to develop an anti-interrogation drug to counter Soviet truth serum.”

Another CIA program MK-BURN was pursued by Dr Carl Pfeiffer until 1970. Pfeiffer has sworn he was merely trying to find a cure for mental illness. That’s what the Atlanta prisoners were told.”

So far it sounds like Jack Anderson was on the side of the angels.  But I have come to think he may have been an early case of “limited hangout” or “controlled opposition.” Surely we members of the public did think we were being kept well-informed by such persons (another one was Drew Pearson.) Hot stuff.

Or Not So Hot, As the Case May Be

At the end of his article Jack Anderson says:

Footnote: The CIA refused comment. Gottlieb told my associate Les Whitten the Atlanta project “was in keeping with the kind of experiments being done at that time.” Pfeiffer “doesn’t ordinarily take calls,” according to a voice at this New Jersey office.”

“a voice.” Fancy that.

I might mention that Judith Vary Baker, in her book Me and Lee, tells how she was instructed to give an injection of fast-acting cancer to a prisoner, having been told that he was dying anyway but she later realized she had killed a healthy man.

I heartily recommend her book.

One more thing, the current Internet copy of Anderson’s WaPo article says “Declassified  copy in part – sanitized and approved for release, August 29, 2012.”  What is the need for permission to reprint what te public had in its newspaper in 1982?

A Non-Lawyer at the Campfire

Although I have a law degree, I’m not a member of the Bar and not supposed to give legal advice. Educating the public via a speech on Youtube does not constitute legal advice, however. Recently my pal in Rhode Island said “Sit down and tell us a story” (as it were).

So Hal sat down and related the following story. It was a dark and stormy night.  A group of MK-Ultra’s were seated around the campfire. They said “Does anybody know why society has never made it possible for our suffering to be acknowledged?”

Hal said “suing is one way to get acknowledgement. We can look at this in five parts. The number shows at which minute/second the Part begins.”

(1:53) PART 1:  Payouts, Non-Disclosure Agreements, “Village chief” adjudication, Government immunity

(11:18) PART 2:  Paul Bonacci case, Deep Sleep treatment, Canadian lawsuits

(22:35) PART 3:  How to sue:  hospitals, universities, the CIA

(33:50) PART 4: Equity, Depositions, Grand juries, Truth commissions

(50:59) PART 5:  Claiming a REWARD; False Memory Syndrome; Getting sued for libel; Confessing, if you are a perpetrator.