what was the outcome of buck v bell

The effect of Buck v. Bell was to legitimize eugenic sterilization laws in the United States as a whole. While many states already had sterilization laws on their books, their use was erratic and effects practically non-existent in every state except for California.

Full Answer

What is the significance of the Buck v Bell case?

Buck v. Bell Buck v. Bell was a case decided on May 2, 1927, by the United States Supreme Court holding that a Virginia statute authorizing the sterilization of inmates in psychiatric institutions did not violate the Constitution's Due Process Clause because it allowed the inmate to have a hearing and months of observation prior to the procedure.

Did Justice Butler write a dissenting opinion in Buck v Bell?

Justice Pierce Butler dissented but wrote no dissenting opinion. What happened in Buck v. Bell? In the case Buck v. Bell, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld two lower court rulings that the state of Virginia could sterilize Carrie Buck without her consent in order to keep her from having any children.

What was the Supreme Court decision in Carrie Buck v Virginia?

The Supreme Court ruled in an eight to one decision that Carrie Buck could be legally sterilized under the Virginia Sterilization Act. The majority opinion was authored by Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr., who provided the Court’s opinion in less than three pages.

Who represented the Virginia Colony in Buck v Bell?

Aubrey Strode, the author for the 1924 Virginia Sterilization Act and a childhood friend of Whitehead’s, represented the Virginia Colony. Buck v. Bell was tried on 18 November 1924 in the Circuit Court of Amherst County, Virginia; the proceedings lasted five hours.

What was the final decision in Buck v. Bell?

In 1927, the US Supreme Court case Buck v. Bell set a legal precedent that states may sterilize inmates of public institutions. The court argued that imbecility, epilepsy, and feeblemindedness are hereditary, and that inmates should be prevented from passing these defects to the next generation.

Is Buck vs Bell overturned?

Although Buck v. Bell has never been overturned, its reasoning has been thoroughly discredited by subsequent case law and a growing awareness of the need for procedural safeguards to ensure the protection of the privacy rights compromised by sterilization.

How did Buck v. Bell impact society?

In 1927, Buck v. Bell upheld Virginia's Eugenical Sterilization Act, authorizing the state of Virginia to forcibly sterilize Carrie Buck, a young, poor white woman the state determined to be unfit to procreate.

How many people were sterilized after Buck v. Bell?

After Holmes's opinion, the rate of sterilizations around the country increased dramatically. According to historian Edwin Black, between 1907 and 1927, the year the Court decided Buck v. Bell, approximately 6,000 people were forcibly sterilized.

Was Carrie Buck sterilized?

Bell. In 1924, Virginia passed its sterilization law based on Laughlin's model. In 1927, Carrie Buck was the first person to be sterilized in the state under the new law, which included sterilizing anyone who was feeble-minded, an imbecile or epileptic. The Supreme Court upheld the decision in Buck v.

What did Buck argue in Buck v. Bell?

Buck and her guardian contended that the due process clause guarantees all adults the right to procreate which was being violated. They also made the argument that the Equal Protection Clause in the 14th Amendment was being violated since not all similarly situated people were being treated the same.

Is forced sterilization still happening?

Forced sterilization remains legal today at the federal level in the U.S. because of a 1927 Supreme Court case known as Buck v. Bell.

When was sterilization banned?

1981. 1981 is commonly listed as the year in which Oregon performed the last legal forced sterilization in U.S. history.

How do you cite a Buck v. Bell?

Cite This Item Holmes, Oliver Wendell, and Supreme Court Of The United States. U.S. Reports: Buck v. Bell, 274 U.S. 200 . 1926.

Why did forced sterilization start?

These groups of women were often targeted as a way to reduce their population and limit their childbearing abilities. These sterilization procedures began in the early twentieth century with the Birth Control Movement and continued until the late 1970s after several thousand had already suffered sterilization abuse.

Is forced sterilization a human rights violation?

Human rights bodies have also recognized that forced sterilization is a violation of the right to be free from torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment (34; 35, para 60).

What is forced sterilization called?

Compulsory sterilization, also known as forced or coerced sterilization, is a government-mandated program to involuntarily sterilize a specific group of people. Compulsory sterilization removes a person's capacity to reproduce, usually through surgical procedures.

Which Supreme Court Justice famously said three generations of imbeciles is enough?

Justice Oliver Wendell HolmesAnd we knew the famous phrase that Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes wrote in the decision - three generations of imbeciles are enough.

Which U.S. state was the first to pass a sterilization law?

Passage of Laws Indiana was the first state to pass a compulsory sterilization law, with the law coming into effect in 1907 (Stern 2007, p.

When did North Carolina's state sterilization program end?

1973The passage of the 1929 sterilization law made North Carolina the 17 th state out off 33 to pass one. This law remained effective until 1973, when the last recorded sterilizations were performed (State Library, “History,” p. 1).

How many states allow forced sterilization?

31 statesForced sterilization is allowed ▶ 31 states plus Washington, D.C.

Why is Buck v. Bell important?

Buck v. Bell is significant because it legitimized eugenic sterilization, and it sparked many states to adopt their own involuntary sterilization statutes. In fact, Adolf Hitler cited Buck v. Bell as a model for his forced sterilization law to prevent “hereditarily diseased offspring.”. The Nazis even used Buck v.

Who wrote the Buck v. Bell case?

The U.S. Supreme Court affirmed the lower courts. Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes, writing for the majority, stated that the Virginia statute was constitutional, and noted that “three generations of imbeciles are enough.”. Buck v. Bell Case Brief.

Why was Carrie Buck sterilized?

A Virginia statute allowed for the forced sterilization of “feeble minded” people to protect the “health of the state.”. Carrie Buck, who was mentally disabled, as was her mother and daughter, was ordered to be sterilized pursuant to the statute. Buck challenged the law on constitutional grounds, arguing that it violated due process ...

What amendment did the Virginia legislature pass to sterilize Buck?

Buck challenged the Virginia statute, arguing that it is a violation of due process and equal protection under the Fourteenth Amendment .

What amendment did Buck challenge?

Buck challenged the law on constitutional grounds, arguing that it violated due process and equal protection under the Fourteenth Amendment. The lower courts upheld the law and the order for sterilization. The U.S. Supreme Court affirmed the lower courts.

Did Virginia's forced sterilization law deny Buck her right to due process and equal protection under the Fourteenth?

Did Virginia’s forced sterilization law deny Buck her right to due process and equal protection under the Fourteenth Amendment? No.

Which circuit court denied Buck relief?

The Circuit Court of Amherst County denied Buck relief.

What was the effect of Buck v. Bell?

The effect of Buck v. Bell was to legitimize eugenic sterilization laws in the United States as a whole.

What was the Supreme Court decision in Buck v. Bell?

200 (1927), is a decision of the United States Supreme Court, written by Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr., in which the Court ruled that a state statute permitting compulsory sterilization of the unfit, including the intellectually disabled, "for the protection and health of the state" did not violate ...

Why was Buck v. Bell cited?

Bell to protect the constitutional rights of a woman coerced into sterilization without procedural due process.

What happened to Carrie Buck?

Carrie Buck was operated upon, receiving a compulsory salpingectomy (a form of tubal ligation ). She was later paroled from the institution as a domestic worker to a family in Bland, Virginia. She was an avid reader until her death in 1983. Her daughter Vivian had been pronounced "feeble minded" after a cursory examination by ERO field worker Dr. Arthur Estabrook. According to his report, Vivian "showed backwardness", thus the "three generations" of the majority opinion. It is worth noting that the child did very well in school for the two years that she attended (she died of complications from measles in 1932), even being listed on her school's honor roll in April 1931.

Which amendment was used to overturn sterilization of women?

^ Buck applied the " rational basis test " (the least restrictive standard of legislative scrutiny) under the 14th Amendment to sustain sterilization of women ("three generations of imbeciles are enough" – Oliver Wendell Holmes). In contrast, Skinner v. Oklahoma applied the " compelling state interest test " (state has the burden of showing that the classification promotes a compelling state interest and that it is the least restrictive available alternative – the most restrictive standard [deferential] of legislative scrutiny) overturning sterilization of men, i.e., habitual male criminal.

How old was Buck's mother when she was adopted?

According to him, Buck's 52-year-old mother possessed a mental age of 8, had a record of prostitution and immorality, and had three children without good knowledge of their paternity. Buck, one of those children, had been adopted and attended school for five years, reaching the level of sixth grade.

Which court case criticized Buck v. Bell?

In the 1996 case of Fieger v. Thomas, the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit both recognized and criticized Buck v. Bell by writing "as Justice Holmes pointed out in the only part of Buck v.

Buck v. Bell Background and History

In 1883, Francis Galton, an English statistician, among several other scholarly pursuits, coined the term eugenics. The term is an English transliteration of two Greek words, ''eu'' which means good, and ''genes'' which means growing or to come into being.

Buck v. Bell Summary of Facts

Carrie Buck had lived a sad and unfortunate life. Her mother Emma, also incarcerated at the Virginia State Colony for Epileptics and Feebleminded, was falsely characterized by Priddy as a 52-year-old prostitute with a mental age of eight, and that Carrie was an illegitimate child of unknown paternity.

Buck v. Bell Ruling

In April 1927, the United States Supreme Court voted 8-1 to uphold the rulings of the two lower courts that Carrie Buck must be involuntarily sterilized. The Court made its decision and rendered its ruling after only reading the transcripts of the circuit and appeals courts. No oral arguments or other evidence was considered.

Who is Carrie Buck?

Carrie Buck is a feeble minded white woman who was committed to the State Colony above mentioned in due form. 3 She is the daughter of a feeble minded mother in the same institution, and the mother of an illegitimate feeble minded child. She was eighteen years old at the time of the trial of her case in the Circuit Court, in the latter part of 1924.

What states did Eugenics fail to pass?

Eugenics always had its critics. A referendum authorizing sterilization failed in Oregon in 1913. Some governors refused to sign eugenic legislation. Nebraska’s governor vetoed a eugenics bill in 1913, writing that the legislation was “only an experiment and it seems more in keeping with the pagan age than with the teachings of Christianity. Man is more than an animal.” Not every state legislature passed such legislation. Federal and state courts regularly found forced sterilization laws unconstitutional because they were cruel and unusual punishments or because the application of the laws denied equal treatment. In addition to more conservative Protestants, Catholics and their clergy largely opposed eugenics.

What is the purpose of the Act of Virginia?

An Act of Virginia, approved March 20, 1924, recites that the health of the patient and the welfare of society may be promoted in certain cases by the sterilization of mental defectives , under careful safeguard, &c.; that the sterilization may be effected in males by vasectomy and in females by salpingectomy, without serious pain or substantial danger to life; that the Commonwealth is supporting in various institutions many defective persons who, if now discharged, would become a menace, but, if incapable of procreating, might be discharged with safety and become self-supporting with benefit to themselves and to society, and that experience has shown that heredity plays an important part in the transmission of insanity, imbecility, &c.

What was the Supreme Court ruling in 1905?

The Court argued that “. . . the liberty secured by the Constitution of the United States to every person within its jurisdiction does not import an absolute right in each person to be, at all times and in all circumstances, wholly freed from restraint. There are manifold restraints to which every person is necessarily subject for the common good. On any other basis organized society could not exist with safety to its members. Society based on the rule that each one is a law unto himself would soon be confronted with disorder and anarchy.” Accordingly, the Court ruled that compulsory vaccination was within the legitimate police power of the state. See Jacobson v. Commonwealth of Massachusetts, 197 U.S. 11, 12 (1905). https://goo.gl/fKBdgP.

Is Carrie Buck a potential parent?

The judgment finds the facts that have been recited, and that Carrie Buck “is the probable potential parent of socially inadequate offspring, likewise afflicted, that she may be sexually sterilized without detriment to her general health, and that her welfare and that of society will be promoted by her sterilization,” and thereupon makes the order. In view of the general declarations of the legislature and the specific findings of the Court, obviously we cannot say as matter of law that the grounds do not exist, and, if they exist, they justify the result.

What is the significance of Buck v. Bell?

Bell is perennial, its principles supporting institutional racism and ableism, among other forms of systemic discrimination. The work of critical race reproductive justice scholars such as Dorothy Roberts’s Killing ...

Why is Bell still relevant?

Bell remains relevant, not because it gave a green light to involuntary sterilization but, rather, because it used the highest court in the nation and the power of its laws to broadcast a lasting message to those with disfavored bodies and minds that their societal value lies not in their lives, but in their deaths.

What was the name of the woman who was forced to sterilize in 1927?

In 1927, Buck v. Bell upheld Virginia’s Eugenical Sterilization Act, authorizing the state of Virginia to forcibly sterilize Carrie Buck, a young, poor white woman the state determined to be unfit to procreate.

What happened after Buck v. Bell?from en.wikipedia.org

After Buck v. Bell, dozens of states added new sterilization statutes, or updated their constitutionally non-functional ones already enacted, with statutes which more closely mirrored the Virginia statute upheld by the Court. The Virginia statute which the ruling of Buck v.

Why was Buck v. Bell cited?from en.wikipedia.org

Bell to protect the constitutional rights of a woman coerced into sterilization without procedural due process.

What was the Carrie Buck case?from en.wikipedia.org

The story of Carrie Buck's sterilization and the court case was made into a television drama in 1994, Against Her Will: The Carrie Buck Story. It was also referred to in 1934's sensational film Tomorrow's Children, and was covered in the October 2018 American Experience documentary "The Eugenics Crusade".

What was the purpose of Bell v. Buck?from en.wikipedia.org

Bell was to legitimize eugenic sterilization laws in the United States as a whole . While many states already had sterilization laws on their books, their use was erratic and effects practically non-existent in every state except for California. After Buck v.

Why would Priddy take a case to the Supreme Court?from embryo.asu.edu

Priddy would arrange a test case, to be appealed and taken to the Supreme Court, in order to test the constitutionality of the sterilization legislation. A patient would be selected for sterilization and Priddy would arrange for a lawsuit on the patient’s behalf to challenge the decision to sterilize him or her.

How old was Emma Buck when she passed the Stanford-Binet test?from embryo.asu.edu

Harry Laughlin presented his brief on inheritance of degenerate qualities. He had used the newly designed Stanford-Binet IQ test to score Carrie and Emma Buck, and he explained that Carrie’s mental age was nine years old, while Emma’s mental age was seven years, eleven months.

How did Carrie Buck get pregnant?from education.blogs.archives.gov

At the age of 17, Carrie Buck became pregnant, which was later reported to have been the result of rape, allegedly by a relative of her foster parents. Following the birth of her child, Carrie was committed to the “Virginia Colony for Epileptics and Feeble-Minded” (the same institution that housed Carrie’s birth mother, ...

Overview

Buck v. Bell, 274 U.S. 200 (1927), is a decision of the United States Supreme Court, written by Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr., in which the Court ruled that a state statute permitting compulsory sterilization of the unfit, including the intellectually disabled, "for the protection and health of the state" did not violate the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution. Despite the changing attitudes in the coming decades regarding ster…

Background

Case

Effect of the ruling

See also

Further reading

External links