the eugenics movement. This movement, not very well known today, tried using political power to eliminate “defective” individuals from the population’s gene pool, often through involuntary sterilizations. Many American states passed statutes for the sterilization of the “unfit,” often including the poor, the imprisoned, and the mentally retarded. While these laws sound offensive and wildly illegal to modern ears, for decades these laws were upheld by the Supreme Court.
