The Case
Interview with Paul Lombardo by the DNA Learning Center.
Virginia adopted a sterilization law in 1924, but sterilization in the state was not prominent until after the ruling of the Supreme Court case. On November 28, 1924, the case was tried at the Circuit Court of Amherst County. Aubrey Strode brought forth evidence that claimed that the three generations of Bucks were "morons". The Circuit Court verdict was that Carrie Buck was "feeble-minded”, and must subject to Virginia's sterilization law. Buck requested a writ of certiorari, and the case reached the U.S. Supreme Court in April of 1927. During the supreme court hearing, Defendant Whitehead argued that the law violated the Due Process Clause contained in the fifth amendment.
"No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a grand jury...nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law..."
Whitehead further claimed that the Virginia Sterilization Act intruded upon the Equal Protection Clause stated in the fourteenth amendment.
“All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.”
The Ruling
The U. S. Supreme Court ruled in an eight to one decision that the Virginia
Sterilization Act term of “feeble-minded” applied to Carrie Buck. The majority’s opinion was delivered by Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. The case was an overwhelming victory for the American eugenics movement and much would follow from this dramatic decision.
“Instead of waiting to execute degenerate offspring for crime, or to let them starve for their imbecility, society can prevent those who are manifestly unfit from continuing their kind…Three generations of imbeciles are enough.” - Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr.