Sources of
Privacy Rights
• First, right to privacy based on
Constitutional Amendments
• Second, right to privacy falling
under “liberty” of 14th
Amendment
• Third, state and federal statutes
or state courts may recognize
certain privacy rights
Boyd v. US, 1886
First suggestion by the Supreme Court of
the Right to Privacy
4th Amendment prohibition against
unreasonable search and seizure did not
just apply to invasions of someone’s
home– held that they applied
 “to all invasions on the part of a man’s home
and the privacies of life. It is not the
breaking of his doors, and the rummaging of
his drawers, that constitute the essence of
the offense, but it is the invasion of his
indefeasible right of personal security,
personal liberty, and private property.”
Katz v. US, 1967 &
Terry v. Ohio, 1968
Supreme Court held 4th Amendment
applies to any government search or
seizure that interferes with a
persons “reasonable expectations of
privacy”
NAACP v. Alabama – Supreme Court acknowledged
aspects of Privacy in 1st Amendment
Right to Privacy
• Right to privacy based on the
due process clause of the 14th
Amendment
What is liberty?
• The Due Process clause of the
Fourteenth Amendment states
“Nor shall any State deprive any
person of life, liberty or property
without due process of law”
Right to Privacy =
Right to Personal Autonomy
• Generally the Court has treated most of the
interest relating to child rearing,
procreation, marriage and medical treatment
as falling within the broad category of the
“right to privacy”.
Meyer v. Nebraska, 1923
• In Meyer, SC held the term “liberty” as used
in Fourteenth Amendment included right of
students to acquire knowledge
Pierce v. Society Sisters, 1925
• In Pierce, decision rested on the “liberty of parents
and guardians to direct the upbringing and education
of children under their control”
Skinner v. Oklahoma, 1942
Oklahoma law stated that a person
convicted two or more times for “felonies
involving moral turpitude” would be
sterilized
Supreme Court overturned the law:
“We are dealing here with legislation which involves one
of the basic civil rights of man. Marriage and procreation
are fundamental to the very existence and survival of the
race. The power to sterilize if exercised may have subtle,
far-reaching and devastating effects. . . His is forever
deprived of a basic liberty.”
Griswold v. Connecticut
Right to Privacy found in 1st, 3rd, 4th, 5th and 9th
Amendments and applied to states under 14th
Eisenstadt v. Baird, 1972
• Supreme Court overturned a
Massachusetts law forbidding
the use of contraceptives by
unmarried individuals
History of Abortion Rights
in the United States
• Until mid 1800s
Most states permitted abortions – except after
quickening – but even then it was just a minor
offense
• After the Civil War – by 1910
Every state – except Kentucky – had made abortion a
felony (persistent campaigning of anti-abortionists)
• By late 1960s
14 states had changed laws to permit abortion when
the woman’s health was in danger, where there was
a likelihood of fetal abnormality, and when the
woman was a victim of rape or incest
Alaska, Hawaii, New York and Washington – actually
repealed all criminal penalties for abortions
performed early in the pregnancy
United States v. Viutch, 1971
Supreme Court upheld a District of
Columbia law allowing abortions not
only to save a woman’s life, but also
to maintain her physical well being
The Court did not rule on whether a
woman’s right to privacy included
her decision to terminate an
unwanted pregnancy
Roe v. Wade, 1973
Renquist Court –right to privacy
applied to areas involving
reproductive freedom
Right to Privacy
• The last source of privacy rights
includes state and federal
statutes provided for a right to
privacy or state court
recognition of privacy rights
1890 – 1941 – State Courts in
12 States recognized a right to
privacy
By 1956 – The number
increased to 18
Be 1960 – More than 36 States
recognized the right to privacy