Buck v. Bell opinion

E103577

United States Supreme Court opinion judicial decision landmark case in American constitutional law

The Buck v. Bell opinion is a 1927 U.S. Supreme Court decision, authored by Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr., that notoriously upheld the constitutionality of compulsory sterilization laws and became a symbol of the excesses of the American eugenics movement.

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All labels observed (3)

Label	Occurrences
Buck v. Bell	2
Buck v. Bell opinion canonical	1
Virginia compulsory sterilization statute	1

Statements (49)

Predicate	Object
instanceOf	United States Supreme Court opinion ⓘ judicial decision ⓘ landmark case in American constitutional law ⓘ
appliedTo	persons deemed "feeble-minded" ⓘ
aroseFrom	Buck v. Bell opinion self-linksurface differs ⓘ surface form: Virginia compulsory sterilization statute
citedBy	Skinner v. Oklahoma ⓘ
concernsInstitution	Virginia State Colony for Epileptics and Feeble-Minded ⓘ
concernsPerson	Carrie Buck ⓘ
hasAuthor	Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. ⓘ
hasCaseName	Buck v. Bell opinion self-linksurface differs ⓘ surface form: Buck v. Bell
hasCitation	274 U.S. 200 ⓘ
hasConstitutionalProvisionConsidered	Fourteenth Amendment ⓘ surface form: Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution
hasCountry	United States of America ⓘ surface form: United States
hasCourt	Supreme Court of the United States ⓘ
hasDecisionDate	May 2, 1927 ⓘ
hasDissentingJustice	Pierce Butler ⓘ
hasDocketNumber	No. 292 ⓘ
hasEra	Lochner era ⓘ
hasFamousQuote	"Three generations of imbeciles are enough." ⓘ
hasHistoricalReputation	one of the most criticized decisions in Supreme Court history ⓘ symbol of the excesses of American eugenics ⓘ
hasJurisdiction	Virginia ⓘ surface form: Commonwealth of Virginia
hasLanguage	English ⓘ
hasLegalField	civil liberties ⓘ constitutional law ⓘ health law ⓘ
hasLegalIssue	constitutionality of compulsory sterilization ⓘ
hasMajorityOpinionBy	Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. ⓘ
hasPage	200 ⓘ
hasPetitioner	Carrie Buck ⓘ
hasProceduralPosture	appeal from the Supreme Court of Appeals of Virginia ⓘ
hasReporter	United States Reports ⓘ
hasRespondent	John Hendren Bell ⓘ
hasRespondentRole	Superintendent of the Virginia State Colony for Epileptics and Feeble-Minded ⓘ
hasRightImplicated	due process of law ⓘ equal protection of the laws ⓘ
hasStatus	never formally overruled ⓘ
hasSubjectMatter	disability rights ⓘ forced sterilization ⓘ reproductive rights ⓘ
hasSubsequentTreatment	effectively discredited by later substantive due process jurisprudence ⓘ
hasVolume	274 ⓘ
hasVote	8–1 ⓘ
held	Virginia sterilization law was constitutional ⓘ compulsory sterilization of the unfit did not violate the U.S. Constitution ⓘ
influenced	state sterilization programs in the United States ⓘ
relatesTo	eugenics movement in the United States ⓘ police power of the states ⓘ substantive due process under the Fourteenth Amendment ⓘ

Referenced by (4)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. → notableWork → Buck v. Bell opinion ⓘ

Buck v. Bell opinion → hasCaseName → Buck v. Bell opinion self-linksurface differs ⓘ

this entity surface form: Buck v. Bell

Buck v. Bell opinion → aroseFrom → Buck v. Bell opinion self-linksurface differs ⓘ

this entity surface form: Virginia compulsory sterilization statute

Skinner v. Oklahoma → distinguishedFrom → Buck v. Bell opinion ⓘ

this entity surface form: Buck v. Bell