Buck v. Bell

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Aug 20, 2025

Dive into the chilling legacy of Buck v. Bell, a 1927 Supreme Court decision that upheld involuntary sterilization laws against those deemed 'unfit.' Explore Carrie Buck's heartbreaking story, illuminating the societal stigma she faced and the eugenics movement's disastrous impact. The discussion unpacks the historical context of eugenics in North America and its moral failings, while raising crucial questions around justice and disability rights that resonate today. It's a poignant exploration of a dark chapter in American history.

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INSIGHT

Buck v. Bell's Lasting Legal Shadow

Buck v. Bell (1927) upheld involuntary sterilization laws as constitutional and remains technically unoverturned.
The decision's reasoning and eugenic ideas continue to shape disability discourse and legal risks today.

ANECDOTE

Carrie Buck's Early Life And Foster Care

Carrie Buck was born in 1906 and spent much of her childhood in foster care with the Dobbs family.
The Dobbses later reported her as 'feeble-minded' while court testimony about her family served the sterilization case.

ANECDOTE

Pregnancy, Alleged Rape, And Commitment

At 17 Carrie became pregnant and alleged Clarence Garland raped her, but the allegation was never investigated.
The Dobbses asked for her commitment to the state colony shortly after the pregnancy.

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Buck v. Bell is the 1927 SCOTUS decision that upheld the constitutionality of laws allowing involuntary sterilization of people deemed to be “unfit.” Most of these laws have been repealed, but Buck v. Bell has never been directly overturned.

Research:

"Buck v. Bell." Gale Encyclopedia of American Law, edited by Michael J. Tyrkus and Carol A. Schwartz, 4th ed., vol. 2, Gale, 2022, pp. 174-177. Gale In Context: Opposing Viewpoints, link.gale.com/apps/doc/CX8276200650/GPS?u=mlin_n_melpub&sid=bookmark-GPS&xid=84626437. Accessed 5 Aug. 2025.
“BUCK v. BELL, Superintendent of State Colony Epileptics and Feeble Minded.” https://www.law.cornell.edu/supremecourt/text/274/200
Brosnahan, Cori. “Finding Carrie Buck.” American Experience. 11/2/2018. https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/eugenics-finding-carrie-buck/
Circuit Court of Amherst County. "Judgment Against Carrie Buck (April 13, 1925)" Encyclopedia Virginia. Virginia Humanities, (07 Dec. 2020). Web. 06 Aug. 2025 https://encyclopediavirginia.org/primary-documents/judgment-against-carrie-buck-april-13-1925/
Derrig, Collin. “Buck v. Bell in the Aftermath of Dobbs v. Jackson: The Supreme Court’s Opportunity to Correct a Hundred-Year-Old Injustice.” University of Cincinnati Law Review Blog. 6/17/2025. https://uclawreview.org/2025/06/17/buck-v-bell-in-the-aftermath-of-dobbs-v-jackson-the-supreme-courts-opportunity-to-correct-a-hundred-year-old-injustice/
Disability Justice. “The Right to Self-Determination: Freedom from Involuntary Sterilization.” https://disabilityjustice.org/right-to-self-determination-freedom-from-involuntary-sterilization/
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Harris, Jasmine E. “Why Buck v. Bell Still Matters.” The Petrie-Flom Center. 10/14/2020. https://petrieflom.law.harvard.edu/2020/10/14/why-buck-v-bell-still-matters/
Larson, Edward J. “Putting Buck v. Bell in Scientific and Historical Context: A Response to Victoria Nourse.” Pepperdine University. 12/15/2011. https://digitalcommons.pepperdine.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1353&context=plr
Lombardo, Paul A. "Facing Carrie Buck. (essay)." The Hastings Center Report, vol. 33, no. 2, Mar.-Apr. 2003, pp. 14+. Gale OneFile: Business, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A101259980/GPS?u=mlin_n_melpub&sid=bookmark-GPS&xid=46aca03c. Accessed 5 Aug. 2025.
Lombardo, Paul A. "Involuntary sterilization in Virginia: from Buck v. Bell to Poe v. Lynchburg." Developments in Mental Health Law, vol. 3, no. 3, July-Sept. 1983, pp. 13+. Gale Academic OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A235104880/GPS?u=mlin_n_melpub&sid=bookmark-GPS&xid=aad8cdbf. Accessed 5 Aug. 2025.
Lombardo, Paul. “In the Letters of an ‘Imbecile,’ the Sham, and Shame, of Eugenics.’ Undark. 10/4/2017. https://undark.org/2017/10/04/carrie-buck-letters-eugenics/
Oberman, Michelle. “Thirteen Ways of Looking at Buck v. Bell: Thoughts Occasioned by Paul Lombardo’s Three Generations, No Imbeciles.” Journal of Legal Education, Volume 59, Number 3 (February 2010). https://jle.aals.org/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1268&context=home
Smith, J., and Dictionary of Virginia Biography. "Carrie Buck (1906–1983)" Encyclopedia Virginia. Virginia Humanities, (07 Dec. 2020). Web. 06 Aug. 2025. https://encyclopediavirginia.org/entries/buck-carrie-1906-1983/
Thompson, Philip. “Silent Protest: A Catholic Justice Dissents in Buck v. Bell.” The Catholic Lawyer. Vol. 43, No. 1, spring 2004. https://scholarship.law.stjohns.edu/tcl/vol43/iss1/
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Lombardo, Paul A. “Carrie Buck’s Pedigree.” J Lab Clin Med 2001;138:278-82. doi:10.1067/mlc.2001.118091
Lombardo, Paul A. “Three Generations, No Imbeciles.” Johns Hopkins University Press. 2008.
Gould, Stephen J. “Carrie Buck's Daughter.” Constitutional Commentary. 1015. 1985. https://scholarship.law.umn.edu/concomm/1015

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