Buck v. Bell

Buck v. Bell
Argued April 22, 1927
Decided May 2, 1927
Full case nameCarrie Buck v. John Hendren Bell, Superintendent of State Colony for Epileptics and Feeble Minded
Citations274 U.S. 200 (more)
47 S. Ct. 584; 71 L. Ed. 1000
Case history
PriorBuck v. Bell, 143 Va. 310, 130 S.E. 516 (1925)
Holding
The Court upheld a statute instituting compulsory sterilization of the unfit "for the protection and health of the state." Supreme Court of Virginia affirmed.
Court membership
Chief Justice
William H. Taft
Associate Justices
Oliver W. Holmes Jr. · Willis Van Devanter
James C. McReynolds · Louis Brandeis
George Sutherland · Pierce Butler
Edward T. Sanford · Harlan F. Stone
Case opinions
MajorityHolmes, joined by Taft, Van Devanter, McReynolds, Brandeis, Sutherland, Sanford, Stone
DissentButler
Laws applied
U.S. Const. amend. XIV
Superseded by
Skinner v. Oklahoma (partially, 1942)

Buck v. Bell, 274 U.S. 200 (1927), is a landmark decision of the United States Supreme Court, written by Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr., in which the Court ruled that a state statute permitting compulsory sterilization of the unfit, including the intellectually disabled, "for the protection and health of the state" did not violate the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution.[1] Despite the changing attitudes about sterilization, the Supreme Court has never expressly overturned Buck v. Bell.[2] It is widely believed to have been weakened by Skinner v. Oklahoma, 316 U.S. 535 (1942), which involved compulsory sterilization of male habitual criminals (and came to a contrary result).[3][4] Legal scholar and Holmes biographer G. Edward White, in fact, wrote, "the Supreme Court has distinguished the case [Buck v. Bell] out of existence".[5] In addition, federal statutes, including the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, provide protections for people with disabilities, defined as both physical and mental impairments.

  1. ^ Buck v. Bell, 274 U.S. 200 (1927).
  2. ^ James W. Ellis, Disability Advocacy and Atkins, 57 DePaul Law Review 653, 657 (2008). ("In the eight decades since Buck, the Court has never overruled it.").
  3. ^ Kaelber, Lutz. "Eugenics: Compulsory Sterilization in 50 American States – Virginia". Lutz Kaelber, Associate Professor of Sociology, University of Vermont. Retrieved May 14, 2013.
  4. ^ "Sexual Sterilization, Virginia Code §§ 54.1-2974 54.1-2980". General Assembly of Virginia. Retrieved May 30, 2015.
  5. ^ White, G. Edward, Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes: Law and the Inner Self, New York: Oxford University Press, 1993, p. 407.