MOESBURG, Ok. –-

The lawyer for convicted serial killer Jeremy Rothstein filed a formal appeal to overturn Rothstein’s convictions for the murders of seventeen people. In September, Rothstein was convicted of multiple counts of first-degree murder. In other words, he was deemed guilty. But, according to his lawyer, Ben Alexander, Rothstein does not identify as guilty.

“I don’t identify with the label I was assigned by my own actions,” said Rothstein.

Throughout history, the court system has only recognized the binary of guilty and not-guilty. Rothstein’s case has stirred up activists to dismantle the guilt binary. One such activist is Swedish-American activist Zara Strömberg.

“We live in a world where you can define your own gender, your own reality,” said Strömberg. “I think it would be best if we stopped assigning people labels based on their actions and let them define themselves.”