Part 1: Buck v. Bell: SCOTUS Case That Led to Forced Sterilization of 70,000 & Inspired the Nazis

Описание: http://democracynow.org - As President Obama nominates centrist Judge Merrick Garland to replace late Justice Antonin Scalia on the Supreme Court, we take a look at what’s been described as one of the worst Supreme Court rulings in history. In the 1927 case Buck v. Bell, the court upheld a statute that enabled the state of Virginia to sterilize so-called mental defectives or imbeciles. The person in question was Carrie Buck, a poor, young woman then confined in the Virginia State Colony for Epileptics and the Feebleminded, though she was neither epileptic nor mentally disabled. In the landmark decision, eight judges ruled that the state of Virginia had the right to sterilize her. Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. wrote the majority opinion concluding, "Three generations of imbeciles are enough." The decision resulted in 60,000 to 70,000 sterilizations of Americans considered "unfit" to reproduce. At the Nuremberg trials, lawyers for Nazi scientists cited the opinion in defense of their actions. We speak to Adam Cohen, author of "Imbeciles: The Supreme Court, American Eugenics, and the Sterilization of Carrie Buck."

Democracy Now! is an independent global news hour that airs weekdays on nearly 1,400 TV and radio stations Monday through Friday. Watch our livestream 8-9AM ET: http://democracynow.org

Please consider supporting independent media by making a donation to Democracy Now! today: http://democracynow.org/donate

FOLLOW DEMOCRACY NOW! ONLINE:
Facebook:   / democracynow  
Twitter:   / democracynow  
YouTube:    / democracynow  
SoundCloud:   / democracynow  
Daily Email: http://democracynow.org/subscribe
Google+: https://plus.google.com/+DemocracyNow
Instagram:   / democracynow  
Tumblr: http://democracynow.tumblr
Pinterest:   / democracynow  
iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/podcast/demo...
TuneIn: http://tunein.com/radio/Democracy-Now...
Stitcher Radio: http://www.stitcher.com/podcast/democ...