#California involuntary sterilizations and reparations

https://nu.federati.net/url/289986 [www theguardian com]

> At the turn of the 20th century, the eugenics movements captivated much of white America, fueled by a zealous faith that the burgeoning field of genetics could socially engineer away America’s “ills”, including poverty, crime and “feeblemindedness”. Thirty-two states had sterilization laws, but California’s program was unrivaled. It contributed to a third of total national sterilizations, and set an example for Nazi Germany’s sterilization laws.

https://nu.federati.net/url/289987 [www sfgate com]

> "California was the second state to pass eugenics laws in 1909," two years after Indiana made it legal to sterilize the "feeble-minded," according to University of Virginia bioethicist Paul Lombardo.

> Lombardo is an expert on eugenics, a school of thought popular around the turn of the 20th century. Eugenicists thought they could improve the human species through selective breeding, which meant preventing habitual criminals, inmates of insane asylums and sexual deviants from having kids.

https://victims.ca.gov/fiscp/ [victims ca gov]

> Many people who lived in state-run hospitals, homes and institutions through 1979 were sterilized, leaving them unable to have biological children. Additionally, many people who were in custody of a state prison or other correctional facility after 1979 were forcibly or involuntarily sterilized.

> The Forced or Involuntary Sterilization Compensation Program financially compensates survivors of state-sponsored sterilization. The California Victim Compensation Board (CalVCB) administers the program.