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In Reckless Hands: Skinner v. Oklahoma and the Near-Triumph of American Eugenics F First Edition, First Printing

by Victoria F. Nourse (Author)
4.0 4.0 out of 5 stars 18 ratings
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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.
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  1. ISBN-10
    0393065294
  2. ISBN-13
    978-0393065299
  3. Edition
    F First Edition, First Printing
  4. Publisher
    W. W. Norton & Company
  5. Publication date
    July 17, 2008
  6. Language
    English
  7. Dimensions
    6.5 x 1 x 9.6 inches
  8. Print length
    240 pages
  9. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

*Starred Review* Nourse blows the dust off one of the most momentous forgotten decisions in Supreme Court history, whose import for society is easily appreciated but whose rationale must be not just dusted off but salvaged and restored. Under the influence of the eugenics movement’s promises of an improved humanity, Oklahoma, like many other states, passed laws in the 1920s and 1930s authorizing the sexual sterilization of people of low intelligence, mental patients, and criminals. The first Oklahoma convict targeted for compulsory vasectomy, Jack Skinner became the plaintiff in a case that would effectually overturn legal sterilization in the U.S. From filing to Supreme Court decision took six years (1936–42) and, as Nourse demonstrates, involved state politics, classic underdog advocacy, riots and breakouts by frightened convicts, and FDR’s attempt to pack the high court, but not any rights talk, even of the human right to reproduce. Back then, community interests and duly enacted laws generally trumped appeals to personal rights. Skinner v. Oklahoma was decided by arguments about the evenhandedness of Oklahoma’s convict-sterilization law. The justices concluded that the statute was discriminatory, not inhumane. Americans would do well to recall Skinner’s egalitarianism, Nourse says, as the persuasiveness of rights talk wanes. Completely engrossing, this may be the legal-history book of the year. --Ray Olson

About the Author

Victoria F. Nourse received her JD degree from the University of California, Berkeley. Currently the Burrus-Bascom Professor of Criminal and Constitutional Law at the University of Wisconsin, she lives in Shorewood, Wisconsin.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ W. W. Norton & Company; F First Edition, First Printing (July 17, 2008)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 240 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0393065294
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0393065299
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.21 pounds
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6.5 x 1 x 9.6 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.0 4.0 out of 5 stars 18 ratings

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Victoria F. Nourse

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Customer reviews

4 out of 5 stars
4 out of 5
18 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

LACAR
5.0 out of 5 stars Fascinating
Reviewed in the United States on November 11, 2008
Verified Purchase
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.
4 people found this helpful
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Worddancer Redux
5.0 out of 5 stars Clear and thoughtful
Reviewed in the United States on December 9, 2008
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I picked this up hoping for a clearer understanding of why SKINNER did not overturn BUCK v. BELL. My interest is in the eugenics movement in the U.S., and--more specifically--in what cautionary tales we should learn from our own dark history that might deter us from over-zealous embrace of genetic technologies to cure social ills.

Nourse certainly provided me with an explanation of why SKINNER did not overturn BUCK v. BELL, and she also provided valuable insights into the larger social factors that held eugenics in place--the Depression and fear of crime, as well as the more familiar anti-immigrant fervor that arouse with industrialization--and began to weaken its hold (no, it was not JUST horror at the Nazi experience).

The book is of potential interest and value to people with a wide variety of interests and competences. For a book that delves as far as it does into technical judicial interpretation, it is quite accessible. I am contemplating using it for a Science and Values course, and look forward to seeing how students respond to it. Meanwhile, I am sending it as a holiday present to several friends, and recommend that course of action.
8 people found this helpful
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Bronx Book Guy
4.0 out of 5 stars Engaging Use of One Case To Examine Big Issues
Reviewed in the United States on September 14, 2014
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This is a good example of using a certain case as a window into a bigger issue === it involves a case arising in the 1930s dealing with the sterilization of certain repeat offenders. The book provides a colorful look at Depression Era Oklahoma along with examining the larger social and legal issues involved. The author's usual writings are largely specialized legal articles. This allows the general public to get a flavor of the issues ... issues that retain importance to this day (science, treatment of criminals, courts protecting rights etc.).
2 people found this helpful
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Megan Asire
5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful
Reviewed in the United States on January 23, 2013
Verified Purchase
Recommend this book and seller. Fast delivery, excellent condition and price. This author, to me, presented the information in an excellent manner. At times it was a little dry but what can you expect when reading about the Supreme Court?! :p This book opened my eyes to many things and hell honestly I had never even heard of eugenics until I had to read this as a class assignment. I recommend this book to everyone, even if you don't have to read it for a class.
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Keystone
5.0 out of 5 stars Very interesting book about a little known chapter of history.
Reviewed in the United States on October 2, 2013
Verified Purchase
Ms Nourse is a well accomplished Georgetown Law Professor. She explains a complex legal subject in such a way that you don't have to be an attorney to understand.
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Catherine J. Stiles
5.0 out of 5 stars Relevant.
Reviewed in the United States on May 11, 2016
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Relevant. Claud Briggs was my relative
One person found this helpful
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Maggie L
5.0 out of 5 stars Relevant and accessible
Reviewed in the United States on October 4, 2017
A fascinating account of an off overlooked case, which may very well become important again as our lives get scarier and scarier. The language is accessible, and explains both the content of the law and the vast differences in the way law was interpreted.
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Jonathan Christie
2.0 out of 5 stars Interesting subject but lackluster narrative
Reviewed in the United States on January 18, 2011
By the book's title, I was expecting an exciting journey into the depths of the eugenics movement in the U.S. I knew little of the Skinner decision and thought this book would shed light on a subject few in the U.S. want to acknowledge. After reading the book, however, I'm left disappointed.

The author's background in law may be to blame for her often glossing over points that to a lay-reader need some time. In one point, she states how jurisprudence has changed since skinner but doesn't really flesh that point out: how exactly did this happen? Who were the key players of this change? Also, the author must believe that people reading this understand how appellate courts work and again glosses over how a case in Oklahoma can end up in the Supreme Court.

Also, the authors use of direct quotes, while lending proof to her statements, begins to be distracting because of her [constant] use of [bra]kets in most [quotations.] My preference is to either have the author paraphrase or use the quote exactly without the braces and let my mind fill in the details.

This book is a nice introduction to a legal case that carries weight even today but I think a different narrative would have made it seem much more alive.
One person found this helpful
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