Privacy at 50: The Bedroom, the Courtroom, and the Spaces in Between

Judith A. Baer

I differ from most political scientists, and many legal scholars, in asserting that both Griswold and Roe were rightly decided. The flaws in the reasoning of both cases, which have been pointed out at too much length by too many authors to require repetition, do not vitiate the argument for inferring a constitutional right of privacy. (And why is it that students of constitutional law speak of inferred rights but implied powers?) As far as I am concerned, the legitimacy of the right to privacy is no longer an issue. This Paper has two purposes. First, I inquire what is distinctive and defensible about the privacy right established in Griswold, extended in Roe, and affirmed in Lawrence. Second, I explore the implications of this freedom for another core constitutional value: equality.