Trial Magazine

Imbeciles: The Supreme Court, American Eugenics, and the Sterilization of Carrie Buck

Adam Cohen
www.penguinrandomhouse.com
416pp., $18.00

Reviewed by Ashleigh Raso

Most lawyers have heard the infamous line, “Three generations of imbeciles are enough,” taken from the 1927 five-paragraph U.S. Supreme Court decision in Buck v. Bell, which affirmed the constitutionality of a state statute authorizing the forced sterilization of “mental defectives.” Imbeciles by Adam Cohen tells the story of appellant Carrie Buck—the daughter of a “feebleminded” woman and the mother of a “not quite normal” baby born out of wedlock—who was sterilized after Buck v. Bell as the eugenics movement gained credibility throughout the United States.

Cohen thoroughly captures how Buck was denied justice at every level of the legal system. At trial, Buck’s attorney colluded with the state and failed to call any witness or offer a single piece of evidence contesting Buck’s sterilization, demonstrating her intelligence, and supporting her 8-month-old child’s lack of a learning disability. It is shocking that this so-called “trial” is part of our country’s history.

Nobody fully explained the legal process and what was at stake to Buck, even as her case continued to the Supreme Court. While Buck’s attorney continued to file appeals, they were rote and extremely weak, intended only to move Buck’s case along so she could be a test case for determining the legality of sterilization.

Troublingly, as Cohen describes, the Supreme Court’s decision in Buck v. Bell would later be cited by Nazis and used by defendants at the Nuremberg trials as legal precedent supporting mass sterilizations. Eugenics laws remained on the books, and forced sterilizations continued for many years in the United States, affecting thousands of people.

Eugenics and forcible sterilization may seem like artifacts from an archaic and disturbing past, but when reading Imbeciles, I found it difficult not to draw parallels to our society today. I see examples of entire groups of people being marginalized for being different, and I wonder if we are destined to repeat history.

I highly recommend Imbeciles for attorneys seeking a reminder that what we do matters. The book highlights our crucial job: to advocate for our clients from the trial level to the Supreme Court. Imbeciles reminds us of what the consequences could be if we do not.

Ashleigh Raso is an attorney at Meshbesher & Spence in Minneapolis. She can be reached at araso@meshbesher.com.