labor law: How are we being Controlled and Who is Doing it? Part 2

LEAA came into existence in 1968 with a huge budget to assist various US law enforcement agencies. Its effectiveness, however, was not considered too great. After spending $6 billion, the FBI reports general crime rose 31 percent and violent crime rose 50 percent. But little accountability was required of LEAA on how it spent its funds. LEAA's role in the behavior modification research began at a meeting held in 1970 in Colorado Springs. Attending that meeting were Richard Nixon, Attorney General John Mitchell, John Erlichman, HR Haldemann and other White House staffers. They met with Dr. Bertram Brown, director for the National Institute of Mental Health, and forged a close collaboration between LEAA and the Institute. LEAA was a product of the Justice Department and the Institute was a product of HEW. LEAA funded 350 projects involving medical procedures, behavior modification and drugs for delinquency control. Money from the Criminal Justice System was being used to fund mental health projects and vice versa. Eventually, the leadership responsibility and control of the Institute began to deteriorate and their scientists began to answer to LEAA alone. The National Institute of Mental Health went on to become one of the greatest supporters of behavior modification research. Throughout the 1960's, court calendars became blighted with lawsuits on the part of "human guinea pigs" who had been experimented upon in prisons and mental institutions. It was these lawsuits which ...