North Carolina court upholds denial of eugenics compensation
By Gary D. Robertson,
Associated Press
| 06. 06. 2017
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Some surviving relatives of people involuntarily sterilized by the state of North Carolina decades ago can't get financial compensation from the state, an appeals court affirmed Tuesday.
The state court said the victims in those cases died before a legal cutoff date that determines who's qualified to receive the money.
A Court of Appeals panel unanimously upheld decisions by a state commission to deny compensation to three estates. The North Carolina Industrial Commission oversees payments from $10 million set aside by the General Assembly in 2013." A Court of Appeals panel unanimously upheld decisions by a state commission to deny compensation to three estates. The North Carolina Industrial Commission oversees payments from $10 million set aside by the General Assembly in 2013.
About 7,600 people deemed "feeble-minded" or otherwise undesirable were sterilized between 1929 and 1974. The law said victims still alive on June 30, 2013 could qualify to receive the money. Payments of $35,000 each have been made so far to about 200 people. The estates of those who were alive on that date but...
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