Despite Partial Victory, Loftus Lawsuit to Proceed

In a unanimous decision by the California Supreme Court, all but one of the claims brought against Dr. Elizabeth Loftus in the "Jane Doe" defamation trial have been dismissed.  The court also ruled that the trial can proceed on a single claim of misrepresentation.  Dr. Loftus, a prominent memory researcher and professor at the University of California, Irvine and the University of Washington, has been a longstanding opponent of recovered memory allegations.  In an article which Dr. Loftus and a colleague published in the Skeptical Inquirer in 2002, the authors provided a comprehensive critique of the "Jane Doe" case which had been lauded as a landmark study in recovered memory.  In the case, Jane Doe alleged "recovering" memories of childhood abuse at the hands of her mother who has consistently denied the allegations.  Through extensive research including interviews of Jane Doe's foster mother and other principals of the case, Dr. Loftus and her colleague concluded that the allegations were false and that the abuse never occurred.  While Jane Doe's identity was not revealed in the article, Nicole Taus made her identity public in 2003 and filed a lawsuit against Dr. Loftus and the University of Washington  citing multiple claims of invasion of privacy, misrepresentation, defamation, and misuse of public records.  Although Dr. Loftus has denied misrepresenting herself to Nicole Taus' foster mother, the trial is scheduled to proceed on this basis.  Despite disappointment in failing to overturn all of the claims of the case, Dr. Loftus' attorney has described the decision as a victory for academic researchers. 

More details on the case can be found here