1. Bowers v. Hardwick, (1986)
2. Facts: Respondent was charged with violating a Georgia sodomy law by having homsexual relations with another adult man in his own bedroom.
3. Procedural Posture: Respondent seeks to challenge the constitutionality of the sodomy statute. The Court of Appeals held that the law violated the mans fundamental rights because his homosexuality is a private and intimate association that is beyond the reach of state regulation.
4. Issue: Whether the statute is consitutional under the due process clause of the 14th amendment.
5. Holding: Yes.
6. Majority Reasoning: There is no constitutional right to protection from state proscription of all private sexual conduct between consenting adults. According to the Palko standard, in order for a non-Bill of Rights individual right to be constitionally protected, it must be one that is “implicit in the concept of ordered liberty,” such that “neither liberty nor justice would exist if they were sacrificed.” A similar standard is those that are “deeply rooted in this Nation’s history and tradition.” Sodomy meets neither of these standards. The court refuses to expand substantive due process in this area, and defers to the states.
7. Dissent Reasoning: This is not a case about a fundamental right to sodomy. It is a case about the right to be left alone. The right of an individual to conduct intimate relationships in the intimacy of his or her own home is at the heart of the Constitution’s protection of privacy.
