Abstract
This was a 1927 Supreme Court case that upheld Virginia's 1924 law allowing the sterilization of people deemed unfit to have children. The case involved Carrie Buck, a young, poor, white woman who was diagnosed as "feeble-minded" and committed to a state mental institution. Her adoptive family had her committed after she gave birth to a child out of wedlock, which her family believed was evidence of her "incorrigibility". A Virginia law permitted the sterilization of institutional inmates to promote "the health of the patient and the welfare of society". This case was intended to be a test case for the Virginia law's constitutionality. The decision excluded people with disabilities from Constitutional protections provided by the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments.
Abstract
This was a 1927 Supreme Court case that upheld Virginia's 1924 law allowing the sterilization of people deemed unfit to have children. The case involved Carrie Buck, a young, poor, white woman who was diagnosed as "feeble-minded" and committed to a state mental institution. Her adoptive family had her committed after she gave birth to a child out of wedlock, which her family believed was evidence of her "incorrigibility". A Virginia law permitted the sterilization of institutional inmates to promote "the health of the patient and the welfare of society". This case was intended to be a test case for the Virginia law's constitutionality. The decision excluded people with disabilities from Constitutional protections provided by the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments.
Summary
In 1927, the Supreme Court affirmed a 1924 Virginia statute that permitted the involuntary sterilization of individuals classified as unsuitable for procreation. This landmark case, Buck v. Bell, centered on Carrie Buck, a young, impoverished white woman diagnosed with an intellectual disability. She was institutionalized in a state facility following the birth of a child out of wedlock, an event her adoptive family cited as proof of her alleged moral deficiency. The Virginia legislation authorized the sterilization of institutional residents, ostensibly to advance public health and social welfare. The case served as a constitutional challenge to this Virginia law. The Court's ruling effectively denied individuals with disabilities the constitutional protections guaranteed by the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments.
Abstract
This was a 1927 Supreme Court case that upheld Virginia's 1924 law allowing the sterilization of people deemed unfit to have children. The case involved Carrie Buck, a young, poor, white woman who was diagnosed as "feeble-minded" and committed to a state mental institution. Her adoptive family had her committed after she gave birth to a child out of wedlock, which her family believed was evidence of her "incorrigibility". A Virginia law permitted the sterilization of institutional inmates to promote "the health of the patient and the welfare of society". This case was intended to be a test case for the Virginia law's constitutionality. The decision excluded people with disabilities from Constitutional protections provided by the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments.
Summary
The 1927 Supreme Court case Buck v. Bell upheld a 1924 Virginia law that allowed the sterilization of individuals deemed unfit to have children. The case centered on Carrie Buck, a young, impoverished white woman who received a diagnosis of "feeble-mindedness" and was subsequently committed to a state mental institution. Her adoptive family arranged for her commitment following the birth of her child out of wedlock, an event her family cited as proof of her "incorrigibility," or inability to be reformed. Virginia's law allowed the sterilization of those institutionalized, stating its purpose was to promote "the health of the patient and the welfare of society." This case served as a legal challenge to determine the constitutionality of the Virginia law. The Supreme Court's ruling effectively denied people with disabilities protections guaranteed by the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments of the U.S. Constitution.
Abstract
This was a 1927 Supreme Court case that upheld Virginia's 1924 law allowing the sterilization of people deemed unfit to have children. The case involved Carrie Buck, a young, poor, white woman who was diagnosed as "feeble-minded" and committed to a state mental institution. Her adoptive family had her committed after she gave birth to a child out of wedlock, which her family believed was evidence of her "incorrigibility". A Virginia law permitted the sterilization of institutional inmates to promote "the health of the patient and the welfare of society". This case was intended to be a test case for the Virginia law's constitutionality. The decision excluded people with disabilities from Constitutional protections provided by the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments.
Summary
A 1927 Supreme Court case affirmed a 1924 Virginia law that permitted the sterilization of individuals considered unfit to have children. This case centered on Carrie Buck, a young, impoverished white woman. She had been diagnosed as "feeble-minded" and committed to a state mental institution. Her adoptive family arranged for her commitment after she gave birth to a child outside of marriage, which her family believed demonstrated her "incorrigibility." Virginia's law allowed the sterilization of people residing in institutions, stating it would promote "the health of the patient and the welfare of society." The primary goal of this case was to test the constitutionality of Virginia's law. The Court's decision ultimately denied individuals with disabilities the Constitutional protections offered by the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments.
Abstract
This was a 1927 Supreme Court case that upheld Virginia's 1924 law allowing the sterilization of people deemed unfit to have children. The case involved Carrie Buck, a young, poor, white woman who was diagnosed as "feeble-minded" and committed to a state mental institution. Her adoptive family had her committed after she gave birth to a child out of wedlock, which her family believed was evidence of her "incorrigibility". A Virginia law permitted the sterilization of institutional inmates to promote "the health of the patient and the welfare of society". This case was intended to be a test case for the Virginia law's constitutionality. The decision excluded people with disabilities from Constitutional protections provided by the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments.
Summary
A 1927 Supreme Court case agreed with a Virginia law from 1924. This law let the state sterilize people it thought should not have children. The case was about a young, poor white woman named Carrie Buck. She was called "feeble-minded" and sent to a state hospital. Her adoptive family sent her there after she had a baby when she was not married. They thought this showed she was impossible to correct. The Virginia law allowed people in state homes to be sterilized, supposedly for their own health and for the good of everyone else. This case was meant to see if Virginia's law was legal under the Constitution. The Court's ruling meant people with disabilities did not have the same rights under the Constitution's Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments.