Imbeciles

the Supreme Court American eugenics and the sterilization of Carrie Buck
Adam Cohen
Book - 2016

"One of America's great miscarriages of justice, the Supreme Court's infamous 1927 Buck v. Bell ruling made government sterilization of "undesirable" citizens the law of the land. New York Times bestselling author Adam Cohen tells the story in Imbeciles 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"--

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Barcode Status Material Type CallNumber Availability
37413316301581 Available Non-fiction 344.7304 COHEN  Place a Hold
Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Cohen, Adam (Adam Seth) (Author)
Format: Book
Language:English
Published: New York : Penguin Press, 2016.
Subjects:

MARC

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100 1 |a Cohen, Adam  |q (Adam Seth),  |e author. 
245 1 0 |a Imbeciles :  |b the Supreme Court, American eugenics, and the sterilization of Carrie Buck /  |c Adam Cohen. 
264 1 |a New York :  |b Penguin Press,  |c 2016. 
300 |a 401 pages, 8 unnumbered pages of plates :  |b illustrations ;  |c 25 cm 
336 |a text  |b txt  |2 rdacontent 
337 |a unmediated  |b n  |2 rdamedia 
338 |a volume  |b nc  |2 rdacarrier 
504 |a Includes bibliographical references (pages 329-382) and index. 
505 0 |a Carrie Buck -- Albert Priddy -- Albert Priddy -- Harry Laughlin -- Harry Laughlin -- Aubrey Strode -- Aubrey Strode -- Oliver Wendell Holmes -- Oliver Wendell Holmes -- Carrie Buck. 
520 |a "One of America's great miscarriages of justice, the Supreme Court's infamous 1927 Buck v. Bell ruling made government sterilization of "undesirable" citizens the law of the land. New York Times bestselling author Adam Cohen tells the story in Imbeciles 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"--  |c Provided by publisher. 
600 1 0 |a Buck, Carrie,  |d 1906-1983  |x Trials, litigation, etc. 
650 0 |a Involuntary sterilization  |x Law and legislation  |z United States. 
650 0 |a Eugenics  |x Law and legislation  |z United States. 
650 0 |a Involuntary sterilization  |x Law and legislation  |z Virginia. 
776 0 8 |i Online version:  |a Cohen, Adam (Adam Seth), author.  |t Imbeciles  |d New York : Penguin Press, 2016  |z 9781101980835  |w (DLC) 2015044842 
998 |a 2016.04.07 
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