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Kindly explain this, if you're able.
By TODD DVORAK, Associated Press Writer
IOWA CITY, Iowa - A judge is considering whether to dismiss a lawsuit filed against the state by six former orphans who took part in a University of Iowa stuttering experiment more than 60 years ago.
The lawsuit seeks compensation for lifelong emotional and psychological problems the plaintiffs say were partly due to their unwitting participation in the study.
Researchers used 22 children from an orphanage as test subjects, badgering some of them about imperfections in their speech to try to induce stuttering
. According to the study, none became stutterers, but some became reluctant to speak or self-conscious about their speech.
District Judge Thomas Horan heard arguments Thursday on whether the suit should be dismissed. He did not say when he would issue a ruling.
Craig Kelinson, assistant attorney general, said the state cannot be held liable for something that happened in 1939. Even assuming the allegations are true, "at the time this matter arose you could not sue the state," said Kelinson.
Attorneys for the plaintiffs say it's not a question of when the act occurred, but when the damage was discovered by the victims.
"The party's right to sue begins when they find out about (the damage)," said Curt Krull, an attorney for the plaintiffs.
Krull says it wasn't until 2001, when the study was made public in a series of stories in the San Jose Mercury News, that test subjects realized what had been done to them.
The lawsuit claims the university and researchers withheld their findings, lied to the orphanage about the research and did nothing to reverse the damage that had been done to the children.
The 1939 experiment was led by Dr. Wendell Johnson, a pioneer in the field of speech pathology. Johnson, who himself had stuttered as a child, dismissed prevailing theories that stuttering had genetic roots.
Instead, he believed it was a learned behavior tied to external influences, such as parental criticism and pressure.
By TODD DVORAK, Associated Press Writer
IOWA CITY, Iowa - A judge is considering whether to dismiss a lawsuit filed against the state by six former orphans who took part in a University of Iowa stuttering experiment more than 60 years ago.
The lawsuit seeks compensation for lifelong emotional and psychological problems the plaintiffs say were partly due to their unwitting participation in the study.
Researchers used 22 children from an orphanage as test subjects, badgering some of them about imperfections in their speech to try to induce stuttering
. According to the study, none became stutterers, but some became reluctant to speak or self-conscious about their speech. District Judge Thomas Horan heard arguments Thursday on whether the suit should be dismissed. He did not say when he would issue a ruling.
Craig Kelinson, assistant attorney general, said the state cannot be held liable for something that happened in 1939. Even assuming the allegations are true, "at the time this matter arose you could not sue the state," said Kelinson.
Attorneys for the plaintiffs say it's not a question of when the act occurred, but when the damage was discovered by the victims.
"The party's right to sue begins when they find out about (the damage)," said Curt Krull, an attorney for the plaintiffs.
Krull says it wasn't until 2001, when the study was made public in a series of stories in the San Jose Mercury News, that test subjects realized what had been done to them.
The lawsuit claims the university and researchers withheld their findings, lied to the orphanage about the research and did nothing to reverse the damage that had been done to the children.
The 1939 experiment was led by Dr. Wendell Johnson, a pioneer in the field of speech pathology. Johnson, who himself had stuttered as a child, dismissed prevailing theories that stuttering had genetic roots.
Instead, he believed it was a learned behavior tied to external influences, such as parental criticism and pressure.
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