During the trial, Carrie Buck’s lawyer made an ominous prediction about what would happen if forced sterilizations were allowed to proceed. “A reign of doctors will be inaugurated in the name of science,” he warned, “even races may be brought within the scope of such regulation, and the worst forms of tyranny practiced.” The Court was unmoved. On May 2, 1927, by a vote of 8 to 1, justices ruled in favor of Carrie Buck’s sterilization. Even Louis Brandeis, the Court’s most liberal justice, sided with the majority.
