California is trying to pay reparations to the victims of forced sterilization. It may not find all of them
By Adam Beam and The Associated Press,
Fortune
| 01. 04. 2023
About 600 people alive today can’t have children because California’s government sterilized them either against their will or without their knowledge, and now the state is trying to find them so it can pay them at least $15,000 each in reparations.
But after a year of searching, the state has approved just 51 people for payments out of 310 applications. There’s one year left to look before the $4.5 million program shuts down and the challenges remain steep. State officials have denied 103 people, closed three incomplete applications and are processing 153 others — but they say it’s difficult to verify the applications as many records have been lost or destroyed.
Two groups of people are eligible for the money: Those sterilized by the government during the so-called eugenics movement that peaked during the 1930s and a smaller group who were victimized while in state prisons about a decade ago.
“We try to find all the information we can and sometimes we just have to hope that somebody maybe can find more detailed information on their own,” said Lynda Gledhill...
Related Articles
By Ian Sample, The Guardian | 07.04.2024
Biological models of human embryos that can develop heartbeats, spinal cords and other distinctive features will be governed by a code of practice in Britain to ensure that researchers work on them responsibly.
Made from stem cells, they mimic, to...
By Michael Hiltzik, LA Times | 07.02.2024
Photo by Claire Anderson on Unsplash
Second only to the Supreme Court’s ruling Monday on when presidents are immune from criminal prosecution, the biggest case of the court’s recently completed session involved the age-old conflict between judges and government regulators...
By Shivam Jadaun and Shivani, JURISTnews | 06.27.2024
Image by European Council from Flickr
In some European Union nations, the forced sterilisation of people with disabilities is still a widespread and concerning practice that blatantly violates their fundamental rights and human dignity. The scope of forced sterilisation in...
By Stephen Groves, Associated Press | 06.13.2024
Photo by Ajay Parthasarathy on Unsplash
Senate Republicans blocked legislation that would make it a right nationwide for women to access in vitro fertilization and other fertility treatments after Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer forced a vote on the matter...