False memories and eyewitness testimony

Former Fla. reform school inmates sue the state
(By BRENDAN FARRINGTON, Associated Press, Feb 5, 2009)

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) " Nearly 100 men who spent time at two Florida reform schools a half century ago are suing the state claiming they were raped and severely beaten by state employees.

The lawsuit's horrific descriptions of the abuse include that of an 11-year-old boy whose groin was repeatedly kicked while his arms and legs were tied between two trees. More common are stories of boys who were forced to lie face down while they were lashed up to 100 times with a weighted leather razor strap, sometimes to the point where pieces of underwear had to removed from their wounds with tweezers and surgical tools.

"I'm ashamed of what they did to these people. When I heard these stories it cried out for something to be done," said Thomas Masterson, a St. Petersburg lawyer who filed the lawsuit in Pinellas County Circuit Court. The lawsuit seeks class-action status.

The men include a group that calls itself "The White House Boys Survivors." They were inmates at the Florida School for Boys in Marianna in the 1950s and '60s and were beaten in a small white building. During a ceremony last October the state Department of Juvenile Justice acknowledged abuse at the Marianna facility. The lawsuit was filed in January.

Other men were inmates at a reform school in Okeechobee, where the suit claims "boys were sodomized with a 'probing rod'" and employees would place bets on who could draw blood first during beatings. The lawsuit does not further describe the 'probing rod.'

The lawsuit claims abuse took place at both sites between the 1940s and 1969. Masterson said he talked independently to men who lived hundreds of miles apart and the abuse descriptions always contained the same details. The suit claims at least two boys were killed at the schools, including one who was put in an industrial clothes dryer.

"If a reasonable person talks to the people who were there, you cannot help but draw the conclusion that these people are telling the truth," Masterson said. "I don't think that you can defend this by saying they're not telling the truth or it's an exaggeration." The lawsuit seeks unspecified damages and relief.

In December, Gov. Charlie Crist asked the Florida Department of Law Enforcement to investigate abuse allegations, and to determine what's contained in at least 30 unmarked graves near the Marianna School. The lawsuit names four state departments as defendants, including the Department of Juvenile Justice, as well as former Marianna reform school employees Troy Tidwell and Robert Curry.

Tidwell's lawyer, Matthew Fuqua has sought to dismiss the suit, saying, among other reasons, too much time has passed to seek legal recourse. He didn't immediately return a call for comment.

The state Department of Juvenile Justice said it doesn't comment on pending lawsuits. Curry could not be located, and Masterson said it's unknown whether he is still alive.

No hearings have been scheduled in the lawsuit. The state, which gets 40 days to respond, hasn't done so yet.

ABSTRACT: The child abuse and false allegation crises which have been assaulting American families have given rise to new challenges for attorneys attempting to deal with these complex issues. Traditional advocacy-based litigation may not provide an adequate remedy for child abuse survivors, or for those who have been falsely accused. Attorneys must become better informed as to the specialized needs of both adult and minor clients in child abuse cases, as well as other cases arising through recovery of repressed memories. Both defense and prosecution attorneys practicing in this area must develop a better understanding of the dynamics underlying the memories which form the foundation of child abuse allegations, and the means by which the veracity of such allegations can be assessed.