Bibliograph

Imbeciles, the Supreme Court, American eugenics, and the sterilization of Carrie Buck, Adam Cohen

Type

Label

Imbeciles, the Supreme Court, American eugenics, and the sterilization of Carrie Buck, Adam Cohen

Language

eng

Bibliography note

Includes bibliographical references (pages 329-382) and index

resource.biographical

contains biographical information

Illustrations

platesillustrations

Index

index present

Literary Form

non fiction

Main title

Imbeciles

Nature of contents

bibliography

Oclc number

911171862

Responsibility statement

Adam Cohen

Sub title

the Supreme Court, American eugenics, and the sterilization of Carrie Buck

Summary

Adam Cohen tells the story of one of the darkest moments in the American legal tradition: the Supreme Court's decision to champion eugenic sterilization for the greater good of the country. In 1927, when the nation was caught up in eugenic fervor, the justices allowed Virginia to sterilize Carrie Buck, a perfectly normal young woman, for being an "imbecile." It is a story with many villains, from the superintendent of the Dickensian Virginia Colony for Epileptics and Feebleminded who chose Carrie for sterilization to the former Missouri agriculture professor and Nazi sympathizer who was the nation's leading advocate for eugenic sterilization. But the most troubling actors of all were the eight Supreme Court justices who were in the majority -- including William Howard Taft, the former president; Louis Brandeis, the legendary progressive; and Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr., America's most esteemed justice, who wrote the decision urging the nation to embark on a program of mass eugenic sterilization

Table Of Contents

Carrie Buck -- Albert Priddy -- Albert Priddy -- Harry Laughlin -- Harry Laughlin -- Aubrey Strode -- Aubrey Strode -- Oliver Wendell Holmes -- Oliver Wendell Holmes -- Carrie Buck

Classification

Creator