BUCK VS. BELL

Supreme Court case of Buck V. Bell 1927

Supreme Court case of Buck V. Bell 1927

Introduction

Buck versus Bell case of 1927 in the United States of America which was written by Justice Holmes Jr., in which the decision regarding the permission of compulsory sterilization of the socially inadequate and the unfit, also including those who were retarded mentally, was ruled by the supreme court which was instated for the protection and the safety of state's health. Surprisingly this decision was under the fourteen amendments due process clause to the United States Constitution. Negative eugenics endorsement was largely seen as the basis of this decision, which was an attempt to protect and improve the human race by getting rid of the defectives and the unfit from the society and the gene pool (Berns, 1951).

In 1883 the whole concept of Eugenics came forward by Francis Galton who was also the one who coined the name. Europe developed the trend of Eugenics first, and later by the start of the 20th century found its way in to the United States. The first eugenic sterilization statute was passed in 1907 in Indiana but it came out to be legally flawed. And to remedy this situation which occurred in Indiana, Harry Laughlin of the ERO (Eugenics Record Office) developed a special model which was known as the Eugenic Law and which was also reviewed by the legal experts. The common wealth of Virginia in 1924 adopted this statue which authorized the compulsory sterilization of the females who were mentally retarded and unfit socially for the reason of Eugenics, and this statute of 1924 was very much closely related to the model developed by Harry Laughlin (Berns, 1951).

In 1924, Dr. Priddy who was the superintendent of the Virginia State colony for the Feeble minded and Epileptics was looking to determine the passing of a legal challenge by the new law filed a petition to sterilize Carrie Buck to his board of directors. Carrie Buck at that time was an 18 year old patient who Peddy claimed that actually had an age of a 9 year old. Buck was a patient at his institution and he claimed that buck was genetic threat to the society, based on the fact that according to Peddy, the mother of Buck who was actually 52 year old had a mental age of an 8 year old and she also had a record of immorality and prostitution and had three children who had no good knowledge of their parentage. One of the three children, Carrie was adopted and also attended a school for almost 5 years and reaching till the level of 6th grade. However, Priddy claimed that, Carrie was eventually proved hopeless and also gave birth and unlawful child. Her adopted family had later stanched her as feeble minded and sent her to the state colony, and were no longer able to care for her. While the litigation determined by Priddy was making its way through the court, Dr ...