Oliver Wendell Holmes

The Buck vs. Bell case then went to the U.S. Supreme Court, where Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr. gave the majority opinion. He concurred with the lower court ruling that Carrie Buck "is the probable potential parent of socially inadequate offspring, likewise afflicted....It is better for all the world, if 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. The principle that sustains compulsory vaccination is broad enough to cover cutting the Fallopian tubes. Three generations of imbeciles are enough." (DNAi location: Chronicle > Trial of Carrie Buck > Trial)

oliver wendell holmes jr,oliver wendell holmes,carrie buck,compulsory vaccination,fallopian tubes,three generations,dnai,majority opinion,eugenics,sterilization,offspring,principle,supreme court

  • ID: 15759
  • Source: DNALC.DNAi

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