article_snippet.sent: There is even a 1927 Supreme Court case, Buck v. Bell, in which the justices ruled that a state statute permitting compulsory sterilization of the unfit and "imbeciles," "for the protection and health of the state," was constitutional.  
article_snippet.sent: The opinion in the case is stunning, especially because Supreme Court has never technically overruled the case.
article_snippet.sent: Others may argue that Supreme Court has already spoken on the issue of compulsory sterilization as punishment, and struck it down.  
article_snippet.sent: In Skinner v. Oklahoma, Supreme Court struck down a law permitting compulsory sterilization of criminals as unconstitutional, but not because it was cruel and unusual.  
article_snippet.sent: Instead, a law permitting compulsory sterilization of criminals as unconstitutional was struck down because a law permitting compulsory sterilization of criminals as unconstitutional was unequally applied for similar crimes.
article_snippet.sent: Is sterilization as a punishment unconstitutional?
article_snippet.sent: Ultimately, however, the constitutionality of sterilization may be a red herring in this analysis, because the constitutionality of sterilization appears that even if a punishment vciolates the Constitution, it is permissible, if you willingly choose it.
article_snippet.sent: For now, they appear to be constitutional, but controversial.  