Oklahoma Habitual Criminal Sterilization Act

Good versus Evil, what makes a person good, what makes a person evil. This question has been debated for years by philosophers, politicians or just about any common debate. People say well someone like Hitler, he is evil and someone like Martin Luther King Jr. is good. Someone who supported thought him as a good person. To people who were against black rights thought Martin Luther to be bad. So this debate of good and evil can never be won because there are always two sides to the argument. Another debate is bad people can make more bad people and vice versa. The Oklahoma Habitual Criminal Sterilization Act of 1935 stated that any male convicted two or more times or if incarcerated in Oklahoma would be sterilized. This law excluded crimes such
In 1936 was when the act was first put into place against Hubert Moore. Moore was convicted five times for various criminal acts. The Attorney General filed for Moore to be sterilized. When Moore and the other inmate caught word of this they rioted. The riot was so big that many inmate were injured and some escaped including Moore. With Moore on the loose the Attorney General filed for another criminal to be sterilized and this was Jack Skinner. Skinner was convicted three different times. “In 1926 Skinner was convicted of stealing three chickens and sentenced to the State Reformatory. In 1929 he was convicted of armed robbery and returned to the Reformatory. In 1934, he was again convicted of armed robbery but this time sent to the Oklahoma state penitentiary (Skinner v. Oklahoma - Oklahoma Prisoner Sterilization)”. When Skinner heard about this instead of rioting he brought this to court. The Skinner v. Oklahoma was one of the first US Supreme Court cases to introduce the concept of strict scrutiny analysis as a means to evaluate the constitutionality of laws (Gur-Arie). Skinner was prosecuted under the act in front of a jury which he lost. The case was appealed by Skinner's lawyers to the Supreme Court of Oklahoma. His lawyers argued that the act is violating the fourteenth amendment. The Court ruled against the appeal and the majority was in favor of the Sterilization Act. The court was five votes
Oklahoma was going on the same time as World War II. Although this case did not directly involve World War II they did bring it up. The United States Supreme Court made part of their decision by how the way that the Germans were treating the Jews. They didn't want america to be like that and they saw this as a first step on that path. This case however was of importance to the United States. This case help other important cases such as Roe V. Wade and reproductive rights and Planned Parenthood V. Casey. If it weren't for Skinner's case these very important cases may have not been won or brought up. Even though Skinner was a criminal and did wrong he started a revolution of standing up for your rights. This case impacted the way that people looked at their rights. People began to change things, stand up for what they believed in. In the years to come after Skinner's case rights such as voting rights, right to privacy and liberty rights were challenged. The People of America began to stand up for themselves and what they believed. This still even holds today like the women's rights rally they had in New York. The gay rights rallies. People have these rallies because they are standing up for their rights just how Skinner did so many years