U.S. v Stanley

Master Sergeant James Stanley had served the US Army for nine years, enlisting at the age of 15, and volunteered for a Chemical Warfare test program under the guise that he’d be testing new protective equipment. However, MSgt Stanley was secretly administered doses of LSD on a weekly basis in a water cup, which caused changes in his personality and mood. 

Stanley would lose his thoughts and confuse his memories, and fade in and out of lucidity. Eventually, Stanley’s trips would turn violent, leading to his divorce and his wife and child leaving him. Stanley was demoted a rank, and eventually discharged due to the effects of the drug. In 1975, Stanley received a letter from the US Army asking him to participate in a follow-up for subjects with long-term effects of LSD, which was the first time Stanley realized he was being secretly, and non-consensually, drugged during the Chemical Warfare trials. 

Stanley brought action against the CIA and US Army in separate suits, both of which were dismissed, and then filed action against the US government under the Federal Tort Claims Act, demanding compensation for his damages. The legal conflict arrived at the Supreme Court, which ruled against Stanley, citing several precedents that even if injuries that are particularly harmful, or unethical, occur during service, no service-member is owed compensation. 

US v Stanley is part of a longer struggle by service-members who suffer from intentional or unintentional injuries and experimentation on the part of the state to receive acknowledgement and appropriate compensation during their time in service.

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Sources:

Andrew Doman. “United States v. Stanley: Has the Supreme Court Gone a Step Too Far.” The Research Repository at West Virgnia University, vol. 90, no. 2, Jan. 1988, https://researchrepository.wvu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2105&context=wvlr.

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Jasper Craven. “America’s Legion.” The Baffler, no. 48, Nov. 2019, https://thebaffler.com/outbursts/americas-legion-craven.

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Melissa Sartore. “How Edgewood Arsenal Carried Out Biological Warfare Experiments On Unknowing US Soldiers.” Ranker, 23 Sept. 2021, https://www.ranker.com/list/edgewood-arsenal-human-experiments/melissa-sartore.

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OFFICIAL TRANSCRIPT PROCEEDINGS BEFORE  THE SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES. Supreme Court of the United States, 21 Apr. 1987, https://www.supremecourt.gov/pdfs/transcripts/1986/86-393_04-21-1987.pdf.

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United States v. Stanley. 86-393, 25 June 1987, https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/483/669/.