Sexual Sterilization On Trial
In 1995, Ms. Leilani Muir sued Her Majesty the Queen in Right of Alberta for stigmatization as a moron, wrongful confinement, and sterilization.
At the age of 10, Ms. Muir, an unwanted and abused child, was admitted to the Provincial Training School for Mental Defectives (PTS) in Red Deer, Alberta. She was confined to the facility until 1965, when she left against medical direction. Years later, during struggles with infertility, failed marriages and depression, Ms. Muir would learn that she had been sterilized during an appendectomy while detained at the PTS. Further, IQ testing would reveal that Ms. Muir did not suffer from mental deficiency.
The Hon. Madame Justice J.B. Veit, presiding over the Court of Queen’s Bench in Edmonton, ruled in favour of the plaintiff and awarded Ms. Muir $740,780 CAD and an additional sum of $230,000 CAD for legal costs.
This precedent setting case opened the doors for other individuals seeking reparation for suffering under the Alberta Sexual Sterilization Act.
Read more about this topic: Sexual Sterilization Act Of Alberta
Famous quotes containing the word trial:
“You may talk about Free Love, if you please, but we are to have the right to vote. To-day we are fined, imprisoned, and hanged, without a jury trial by our peers. You shall not cheat us by getting us off to talk about something else. When we get the suffrage, then you may taunt us with anything you please, and we will then talk about it as long as you please.”
—Lucy Stone (1818–1893)