Now Dig This: The Unspeakable Writings of Terry Southern, 1950-1995 by Terry Southern

Author:Terry Southern [Southern, Terry]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780802138941
Publisher: Grove Press
Published: 2001-01-02T08:00:00+00:00

On the Persecution of Lenny Bruce

“As you know, Lenny was found guilty on a narcotics-possession charge, by the Los Angeles County Court, in 1963 … May 16th, to be exact. The judge referred the disposition of the case to the Los Angeles County Psychiatric Court—which sentenced him to ten years ‘rehabilitation.’ While waiting for his appeal hearing to come up, he engaged me to investigate various circumstances surrounding the trial—particularly the so-called expert testimony to the effect that he was an addict. The principal ‘expert’ in this instance was Dr. Thomas L. Gore. Dr. Gore was a psychiatrist regularly employed by the County of Los Angeles; his job was to testify as to whether or not the defendant in these cases was addicted to narcotics. Each year his testimony sent hundreds of people to these ‘rehabilitation centers’—which is the State’s euphemism for a prison-hospital. Early in the proceedings it became apparent that Dr. Gore had entered the case with an opinion of the defendant which had nothing to do with whether or not he was a narcotics addict—he simply didn’t like Lenny Bruce … didn’t like his act. His manner was surly, aggravating … insulting. His first question, for example, was: ‘How long have you been smoking marijuana?’ The second was: ‘Have you ever taken a fix in the leg?’ Now there’s a narcotics-addiction test given by the State of California—the Nailline Test—and this is a test required by the State for anyone applying for a driver’s license who has had any record of the use or possession of narcotics. Lenny Bruce requested that he be given the Nailline Test—because it isn’t actually required of a person on trial—and he took the test and passed it. Dr. Gore, when asked by the defense to explain this, said: ‘I think he was just trying to fool us.’ Now Dr. Gerald Forte, a nationally prominent figure in psychiatric circles, who was a Special Advisor on Mental Health to President Kennedy, voluntarily came forward, asked permission to examine Bruce, and stated unequivocally that, in his opinion, Bruce ‘could not possibly be a drug addict.’ Dr. Thomas Curry, who originated the Nailline Test, made the same statement—both of which are on public record. And yet, on Dr. Gore’s testimony, Lenny Bruce was sentenced to ten years compulsory rehabilitation. Now the obvious question, from Lenny Brace’s point of view, is: who is Dr. Gore, and how well qualified is he to be in a position of such power? Well, our investigation revealed some interesting information about Dr. Thomas L. Gore. We sent an agent to Tennessee, which was Dr. Gore’s early stomping grounds, and we learned the following—all of which, by the way, is thoroughly documented—a matter of public record, official hospital record, or sworn and substantiated affidavit. In 1948, Dr. Gore was discharged from his position as Superintendent of the Davidson County Hospital, in Nashville, Tennessee, for the ‘mishandling of funds’ of that hospital. There was twenty-five thousand dollars missing when Dr. Gore left, and it is still missing to this day.

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