1. “Imbecile” women can be sterilized
For 50 years, forced sterilization was legal in the US. Mostly poor women were the victims, and the case of this unfortunate Virginia teenager is how it got started.
2. “Community standards” for porn
When adult entrepreneur Marvin Miller sent out his racy mailers, advertising what would today seem like tame erotic literature, he probably didn’t expect to get the Supreme Court talking about pornography. But he did, and it turns out, it’s a matter of taste.
3. Rapists cannot be executed
Until the 1970s, rapists could still be put to death in several Southern states. No surprise, there’s an ugly racial backstory.
4. Married couples get the Pill
By deliberately getting herself arrested, one Connecticut woman used a genius strategy to help get contraception legalized and lay the groundwork for Roe v. Wade.
