the fact that only a handful of the nearly 900 cases presented to the eugenics board by leonard jan le vann, medical superintendent of the pts, were rejected has raised questions about the integrity of the assessments and decision-makers alike. because of the board's enduring trust in the superintendent's judgement, many individuals who did not meet the formal criteria for sterilization were nonetheless rendered infertile. among those targeted were children with both subpar iqs (<70) and iqs highly exceeding the upper limit of 703, those with physical or mental disorders and those ailed by heritable disease. other traits targeted by the eugenic procedure were ethnic minority and poverty, as well as criminal behaviour, alcoholism and promiscuity. women, eastern european immigrants, first nations people, and catholics represented a disproportionate number of those sterilized at the pts. the eugenics board never stopped to question the individuals' backgrounds or why le vann fought for their sterilization. as far as policy -makers and -enforcers were concerned, all of these groups had one thing in common: they were "a menace to society".