Buck v. Bell

QUARTER OF a century has passed since Justice Holmes provided the eugenical sterilization movement with a constitutional blessing and an epigrammatic battle cry. His opinion for the Court in Buck v. Bell' was regarded by eugenicists as the herald of a new day, and was joined in by all his brethren except Justice Butler. Whether the latter believed three generations of imbeciles were not enough, or that the number of generations was immaterial, we do not know, for while he did not withhold his judgment, he kept his reasons for dissenting to himself. The eugenicists, on the other hand, were anything but silent. Holmes, the subject of so much adulation, was hailed by them as the new Prometheus, and excerpts from his opinion continue to this day to add spice to their literature. Among political scientists concerned with constitutional law, the decision seems to have been implicitly accepted as a return to the true meaning of the due process clause. In his annual review of the Court's activities, Professor Cushman commented

Battle · Blessing · Dissenting opinion · Economic Justice · Epistemology · Eugenics · Meaning (existential) · Political science · Politics · Sociology · Theology · History · Law · Legal Systems and Judicial Processes · Philosophy

• Eugenics and Disability Discrimination

  David Pfeiffer•Disability & Society•1994

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• Overview of the Disability Movement

  Open Access•David Pfeiffer•Policy Studies Journal•1993

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• Mr. Justice Holmes

  Open Access•Martin B Hickman•The Western Political Quarterly•1952

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