State eugenics laws mandating sterilization of criminals convicted of some crimes but not others are unconstitutional as it violates a person's rights given under the Equal Protection Clause and Due Process Clause of the 14th Amendment. Decided June 1, 1942 (argued May 6, 1942). Opinion of the Court: Douglas, joined by unanimous Applied: the Fourteenth Amendment → go there Topic: Fourteenth Amendment rights. Skinner v. State of Oklahoma, ex rel. Williamson, 316 U.S. 535 (1942), is a unanimous United States Supreme Court ruling that held that laws permitting the compulsory sterilization of criminals are unconstitutional as it violates a person's rights given under the 14th Amendment of the United States Constitution, specifically the Equal Protection Clause and the Due Process Clause. The relevant Oklahoma law applied to "habitual criminals" but excluded white-collar crimes from carrying sterilization penalties. Wiki link