Imbeciles : the Supreme Court, American eugenics, and the sterilization of Carrie Buck
(Book)

Includes bibliographical references (pages 329-382) and index.

"In 1927, the Supreme Court handed down a ruling so disturbing, ignorant, and cruel that it stands as one of the great injustices in American History. In Imbeciles, bestselling author Adam Cohen exposes the court's decision to allow the sterilization of a young woman, Carrie Buck, it wrongly thought to be 'feebleminded' and to champion the mass eugenic sterilization of undesirable citizens. The 8-1 ruling was signed by many revered figures in American law -- including Chief Justice William Howard Taft, a former U.S. president; and Louis Brandeis, a progressive icon. Oliver Wendell Holmes, considered by many to be the greatest Supreme Court Justice in history, wrote the majority opinion, declaring, 'Three generations of imbeciles are enough.' In this shocking story, Cohen overturns cherished myths and demolishes lauded figures in relentless pursuit of the truth. With the intellectual force of a legal brief and the passion of a front-page expos�e, Imbeciles is an ardent indictment of our champions of justice and our optimistic faith in progress, as well as a triumph of American legal and social history." -- Back cover.