who was carrie buck's lawyer

Who is Carrie Buck and what did she do?

Irving Whitehead, Buck’s lawyer, did little on her behalf. He called no witnesses to dispute Laughlin or other “experts” who favored sterilization. Not surprisingly, a judge upheld the decision to sterilize Carrie Buck. Whitehead promptly filed an …

How did Carrie Buck get sterilized in Virginia?

Irving Whitehead was the lawyer appointed to represent Carrie Buck at the trial in Amherst County. Whitehead betrayed Carrie, colluding with his supposed adversary, Aubrey Strode, presenting no witnesses, and doing only a minimal job of cross examination.

What was the Supreme Court decision in Carrie Buck v Bell?

Carrie Buck, in full Carrie Elizabeth Buck Eagle Detamore, (born July 2, 1906?, Charlottesville, Virginia, U.S.—died January 28, 1983, Waynesboro, Virginia), American woman who was the plaintiff in the case of Buck v. Bell (1927), in which the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of compulsory eugenics-based sterilization laws.

What happened to Carrie Buck in the Lynchburg colony?

Carrie Buck was the first person involuntarily sterilized under Virginia’s eugenics laws. In 1920 her mother was diagnosed as feebleminded—a diagnosis based less on a medical finding than on the doctors’ perception of her sexual behavior—and committed to the Virginia State Colony for Epileptics and Feebleminded in Lynchburg.

Was Carrie Buck actually feeble-minded?

Believing that the pregnancy was evidence of promiscuity and thus of feeblemindedness, the foster family sought to have her committed, like her mother, to the Virginia State Colony for Epileptics and Feeble-Minded. At a hearing on January 23, 1924, Buck was adjudged epileptic and feebleminded.

Who was the defendant in Buck v. Bell?

Carrie BuckIn Buck v. Bell, decided on May 2, 1927, the U.S. Supreme Court, by a vote of 8 to 1, affirmed the constitutionality of Virginia's law allowing state-enforced sterilization. After being raised by foster parents and allegedly raped by their nephew, the appellant, Carrie Buck, was deemed feebleminded and promiscuous.

Who dissented in Buck v. Bell?

Associate Justice Pierce ButlerThe sole dissenting vote in Buck vs. Bell was Associate Justice Pierce Butler, who served on the Court from 1922 until his death in 1939. Butler's parents were immigrants from County Wicklow, Ireland, who fled the Great Famine and settled in Minnesota. Butler and his eight siblings were born in a log cabin.Sep 28, 2020

What did Buck argue in Buck v. Bell?

In 1927, the US Supreme Court case Buck v. Bell set a legal precedent that states may sterilize inmates of public institutions. The court argued that imbecility, epilepsy, and feeblemindedness are hereditary, and that inmates should be prevented from passing these defects to the next generation.Jan 1, 2012

15831. Irving Whitehead, still image with audio

Irving Whitehead was the lawyer appointed to represent Carrie Buck at the trial in Amherst County. Whitehead betrayed Carrie, colluding with his supposed adversary, Aubrey Strode, presenting no witnesses, and doing only a minimal job of cross examination.

15836. Aubrey Strode, still image with audio

Aubrey Strode was the lawyer who wrote the Virginia statute that became the sterilization law.

12181. Aubrey Strode, the lawyer who wrote the Virginia sterilization law and who took Buck vs. Bell to the U.S. Supreme Court

Aubrey Strode, the lawyer who wrote the Virginia sterilization law and who took Buck vs. Bell to the U.S. Supreme Court

15233. Lies at Buck vs. Bell, Paul Lombardo

Paul Lombardo talks about although Carrie was not feebleminded or morally degenerate, this was the way she was portrayed by the lawyers.

15217. How Buck vs. Bell began, Paul Lombardo

Paul Lombardo talks about Amherst County Courthouse was the first step of a legal case that would lead all the way to the Supreme Court.

15230. Holmes' conclusions at Buck vs. Bell, Paul Lombardo

Paul Lombardo talks bout in the Supreme Court decision, Justice Holmes compared sterilization for feeblemindedness to a vaccination for smallpox.

15729. John Bell and Carrie Buck

The 17 year-old protagonist of the Buck vs. Bell case, Carrie Buck, was pitted against an array of doctors, lawyers, and eugenicists who were intent on sterilizing her, including John Bell, the superintendent of the Virginia Colony for Epileptics and Feeb

Who was Carrie Buck?

Bell trial. Carrie Elizabeth Buck (July 3, 1906 – January 28, 1983) was the plaintiff in the United States Supreme Court case Buck v.

Who played Carrie Buck in Against Her Will?

The story of Carrie Buck's sterilization and subsequent court case was made into a television drama in 1994, Against Her Will: The Carrie Buck Story with actress Marlee Matlin portraying Buck as an intellectually disabled woman.

Where was Carrie Buck born?

Carrie Buck was born in Charlottesville, Virginia, the first of three children born to Emma Buck; she was soon joined by half-sister Doris Buck and half-brother Roy Smith. Little is known about Emma Buck except that she was poor and married to Frederick Buck, who abandoned her early in their marriage. Emma was committed to the Virginia State Colony ...

Why was Carrie Buck's sister sterilized?

In order to ensure that the family could not reproduce, Carrie Buck's sister Doris was also sterilized when she was hospitalized for appen dicitis, although she was never informed of this sterilization.

Who is Carrie Buck?

Carrie Buck, in full Carrie Elizabeth Buck Eagle Detamore, (born July 2, 1906?, Charlottesville, Virginia, U.S.—died January 28, 1983, Waynesboro, Virginia), American woman who was the plaintiff in the case of Buck v. Bell (1927), in which the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of compulsory eugenics -based sterilization ...

What was the Supreme Court ruling in Buck v. Bell?

After the Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals affirmed the ruling, Buck v. Bell was argued before the U.S. Supreme Court in 1927. The court, in an 8–1 decision, upheld the law’s constitutionality. In the majority opinion, Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr., wrote that “three generations of imbeciles are enough.”.

What is the Supreme Court?

Supreme Court of the United States, final court of appeal and final expositor of the Constitution of the United States. Within the framework of litigation, the Supreme Court marks the boundaries of authority between state and nation, state and state, and government and citizen.…

Who was Carrie Buck?

The family’s embarrassment may have been compounded by the fact that Carrie’s pregnancy was the result of being raped by a relative of her foster parents. This point was never raised in the subsequent court proceedings. Carrie’s mother, Emma Buck , had previously been committed to the asylum.

Who was the first person to be sterilized in Virginia?

The assertions of the expert witnesses at Carrie Buck ’s original trial laid the groundwork for Chief Justice Holmes’ resounding statement, “Three generations of imbeciles are enough.”. On October 19, 1927, Carrie Buck was the first person in Virginia sterilized under the new law.

When was sterilization legalized in Virginia?

Prior to passage of Virginia’s Eugenical Sterilization Act of 1924, sterilization procedures had been taking place at the Virginia Colony, and were justified as “for the relief of physical suffering.”. After the law was passed by the General Assembly, immediate targets of sterilization were the allegedly feebleminded women who were committed to ...

When was sterilization first legalized in Virginia?

In 1924, Virginia passed its sterilization law based on Laughlin’s model. In 1927, Carrie Buck was the first person to be sterilized in the state under the new law, which included sterilizing anyone who was feeble-minded, an imbecile or epileptic. The Supreme Court upheld the decision in Buck v. Bell, validating sterilization and increasing sterilizations throughout the country.

What is the goal of eugenics?

The goal of eugenics was to improve the genetic composition of the population: to encourage healthy, smart individuals to reproduce (called positive eugenics) ...

When did sterilization start?

In fact, state governments soon started establishing sterilization laws. In 1907 , Indiana was the first state to legalize sterilization. According to scientist Stephen Jay Gould in Natural History:

Overview

Supreme Court case

Virginia's General Assembly passed the Eugenical Sterilization Act in 1924. According to American historian Paul A. Lombardo, politicians wrote the law to benefit a malpracticing doctor avoiding lawsuits from patients that were the victims of forced sterilization. Eugenicists used Buck to legitimize this law in the 1927 Supreme Court case Buck v. Bell through which they sought to gain legal permission for Virginia to sterilize Buck.

Early life

Later years and death

Legacy

In media

See also

Further reading