“a piece of the most critical litigation in this century.”
-- Dale Haralson, attorney for the defendants
-- Dale Haralson, attorney for the defendants
In Irene Allen v. United States, twenty-four plaintiffs represented 1,200 individuals who were deceased or living victims of fallout.
In 1984, Jenkins ruled that fallout caused human deaths and the federal government was negligent in failing to warn residents. However, on appeal the government won a reversal on national security grounds.
Jenkins found that:
" * the AEC programs at the NTS - public safety and monitoring fallout - were badly flawed. * the information given to downwinders was woefully deficient. * there was a failure to inform * there was a failure to monitor adequately. * there was a failure to explain the increased risks to children. * there was a failure to warn about cattle feeding and food chain contamination. * there was a failure to advise people who were at risk about simple things they could do to minimize danger" (Ball, 158). |
"Jenkins opinion examines the larger issue of the relationship of an unknowing, trusting citizen and the government agent responsible for his or her health and welfare" (Ball, 172).
"There is no doubt that the 200-page opinion will stand as an example of judicial craftsmanship for many decades to come" (Ball, 169). "What Jenkins did, in effect, was to expand the law of torts by lowering the burden of proof where the defendant's action appears especially reprehensible, so as to allow plaintiffs to recover by showing that causation is possible, or conceivable, rather than probable" (Ball, 162). |
Dale Haralson also said, “I have never felt more inadequate to talk about the value of human life that was taken as a result of the greatest civilian tragedy that has ever been experienced by United States civilians since the Civil War” (Fradkin, 134).