In Reckless Hands: Skinner v. Oklahoma and the Near-Triumph of American Eugenics | 
 enlarge | Author: Victoria F. Nourse
Publisher: W. W. Norton
Category: Book
List Price: $24.95
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Avg. Customer Rating:  3 reviews
Sales Rank: 212981
Media: Hardcover
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 256
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.2
Dimensions (in): 9.3 x 6.2 x 1
ISBN: 0393065294
Dewey Decimal Number: 344.73048
EAN: 9780393065299
ASIN: 0393065294
Publication Date: July 21, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
The disturbing, forgotten history of America's experiment with eugenics.
In the 1920s and 1930s, thousands of men and women were sterilized at asylums and prisons across America. Believing that criminality and mental illness were inherited, state legislatures passed laws calling for the sterilization of "habitual criminals" and the "feebleminded." But in 1936, inmates at Oklahoma's McAlester prison refused to cooperate; a man named Jack Skinner was the first to come to trial. A colorful and heroic cast of characters—from the inmates themselves to their devoted, self-taught lawyer—would fight the case all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court. Only after Americans learned the extent of another large-scale eugenics project—in Nazi Germany—would the inmates triumph.
Combining engrossing narrative with sharp legal analysis, Victoria F. Nourse explains the consequences of this landmark decision, still vital today—and reveals the stories of these forgotten men and women who fought for human dignity and the basic right to have a family. 11 photographs.
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Fascinating November 11, 2008
I didn't think there were too many bits of Oklahoma history that I hadn't at least heard of . . . until I ran across a blurb about the German atrocities in World War II and except for a Supreme Court case in Oklahoma similar events "could" have taken place in the U.S. I was fascinated and shocked when I read this book to realize how close we were walking a similar path, maybe not for the same reasons but so many were convinced that eugenics, or at least the form of denying "undesirables" to procreate, was the answer to the decline of the world. Although many states had laws or guidelines for unwanted sterilization Oklahoma became the battleground for stopping it when some prisoners at McAlester and some local lawyers took their case all the way to the Supreme Court. I also discovered that Jack Skinner, the prisoner who was the focus of the lawsuit, even went to the same high school I did (although quite a few years before!) The book is excellent although a little tedious is spots for this reader because of the legalistic terms but it's something that's necessary. A must read for any Oklahoma history student or anyone else that appreciates the social development of this country.
In Reckless Hands October 21, 2008
This book on such a monumental, but to the lay person, unfamiliar, case was wonderfully written. Starting it Sunday afternoon was not a wise decision since it made closing the pages for sleep Sunday night very difficult. Fortunately I had time today to finish.
There is great attention to detail, dedication to making "legalese" easily understood by all, and an unassuming tone of writing.
A Fine Supreme Court Case History September 25, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
This book is a history of the Supreme Court case of Skinner v. Oklahoma (1942), in which the Court threw out the state's law authorizing mandatory sterilization of "habitual criminals." The author does a solid job outlining the history of the Oklahoma statute, the legal proceedings before the case reached the Court, and the legal strategies employed by the state and Skinner. Along the way the reader learns quite a lot about the eugenics movement in this country in the early to mid 20th century, and how this concept had made its appearance in other countries, such as Nazi Germany for example. The author, a law professor at the University of Wisconsin and Emory, also discusses Holmes' famous decision in the earlier case of Buck v. Bell (1927) involving the mandatory sterilization of mentally defective individuals. The author is very good in explaining concepts to the general reader, one mark of an effective case history. What is quite striking, in addition, is the author's extensive attention to contemporary press material, law review articles, and other secondary sources. As she explains in her "Acknowledgements and Method," she practices "dirty history," i.e., devoting much time (and substantial effort) to examining local archives in conjunction with her more traditional legal analysis. The combination of the two approaches proves quite effective. All of this is spelled out in 29 pages of extensive notes which help to make the picture complete. The result is an outstanding example of how case histories ought to be written.
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