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===''Buck v. Bell''===

===''Buck v. Bell''===

As a Supreme Court Justice, Holmes read his belief in eugenics into the [[Constitution]], writing the decision in ''Buck v. Bell'' (1927) upholding the forced sterilization of a young woman, Carrie Buck, on the grounds that she had a low IQ. Substituting his personal views in place of the Constitution, he wrote, "Three generations of imbeciles are enough," referring to Buck, her mother, and her six-month-old baby.<ref>[http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/cgi-bin/getcase.pl?court=us&vol=274&invol=200 ''Buck v. Bell'', 274 U.S. 200] (1927)</ref> The Nazis, who sterilized more than 400,000 people, used ''Buck v. Bell'' in their propaganda.<ref>Stephen Murdoch, [http://hnn.us/roundup/entries/59714.html Review of Paul Lombardo’s ''Three Generations, No Imbeciles: Eugenics, the Supreme Court, and Buck v. Bell'' (Johns Hopkins University Press, 2008)], History News Network (George Mason University, January 13, 2009</ref> When that practice was condemned at the Nuremberg trials, counsel for the accused Nazis likewise cited Holmes' opinion in their clients' defense.<ref>William E. Leuchtenburg, ''[http://books.google.com/books?id=KguJFHdmP6MC The Supreme Court Reborn: The Constitutional Revolution in the Age of Roosevelt]'' (Oxford University Press, 1996) ISBN 0195111311, p. 17</ref>

As a Supreme Court Justice, Holmes read his belief in eugenics into the [[Constitution]], writing the decision in ''Buck v. Bell'' (1927) upholding the forced sterilization of a young woman, Carrie Buck, on the grounds that she had a low IQ. Substituting his personal views in place of the Constitution, he wrote, "Three generations of imbeciles are enough," referring to Buck, her mother, and her six-month-old baby.<ref>[http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/cgi-bin/getcase.pl?court=us&vol=274&invol=200 ''Buck v. Bell'', 274 U.S. 200] (1927)</ref> The Nazis, who sterilized more than 400,000 people, used ''Buck v. Bell'' in their propaganda.<ref>Stephen Murdoch, [http://hnn.us/roundup/entries/59714.html Review of Paul Lombardo’s ''Three Generations, No Imbeciles: Eugenics, the Supreme Court, and Buck v. Bell'' (Johns Hopkins University Press, 2008)], History News Network (George Mason University, January 13, 2009)</ref> When that practice was condemned at the Nuremberg trials, counsel for the accused Nazis likewise cited Holmes' opinion in their clients' defense.<ref>William E. Leuchtenburg, ''[http://books.google.com/books?id=KguJFHdmP6MC The Supreme Court Reborn: The Constitutional Revolution in the Age of Roosevelt]'' (Oxford University Press, 1996) ISBN 0195111311, p. 17</ref>

“One decision that I wrote gave me pleasure,” confided Holmes, “establishing the constitutionality of a law permitting the sterilization of imbeciles.”<ref>James Bishop Peabody, ed, ''[http://books.google.com/books?id=iieTAAAAIAAJ The Holmes-Einstein Letters: Correspondence of Mr. Justice Holmes and Lewis Einstein, 1903-1935] (New York: St. Martin's Press, 1964), p. 267</ref> “I wrote and delivered a decision upholding the constitutionality

“One decision that I wrote gave me pleasure,” confided Holmes, “establishing the constitutionality of a law permitting the sterilization of imbeciles.”<ref>James Bishop Peabody, ed, ''[http://books.google.com/books?id=iieTAAAAIAAJ The Holmes-Einstein Letters: Correspondence of Mr. Justice Holmes and Lewis Einstein, 1903-1935] (New York: St. Martin's Press, 1964), p. 267</ref> “I wrote and delivered a decision upholding the constitutionality