by Adam Cohen
First published 2017
Adam Cohen examines the Supreme Court's 1927 Buck v. Bell decision that legalized forced sterilization in America. The case centered on Carrie Buck, a young woman from Charlottesville, Virginia, who was falsely labeled "feebleminded" after becoming pregnant outside marriage. Her foster family sent her to the Colony for Epileptics and Feeble-Minded, where she became an unwitting test case for Virginia's new eugenic sterilization law. Cohen reveals how powerful scientists, lawyers, and politicians conspired against Buck, including her own attorney who secretly worked with her opponents. The Supreme Court ruled 8-1 to uphold her sterilization, with Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes writing the majority opinion that declared "Three generations of imbeciles are enough." The decision was supported by revered legal figures including Chief Justice William Howard Taft and Justice Louis Brandeis. Cohen shows how this ruling reflected America's embrace of eugenics and led to the sterilization of 60,000 to 70,000 Americans. The book exposes the false science and prejudice behind the case while challenging myths about American justice and legal heroes.
Genres: history, 20th-century, non-fiction, biography-memoir, academic, american-history
Vibes: intimate, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: corruption, social-commentary, true-story
Setting: Charlottesville, Virginia, America
Period: 1927
432 pages · Paperback · Penguin Books
Content warnings: ableism