Right to Privacy

Crime and Law -- Nilsen

Privacy is:

The right to be let alone

Privacy is:

The right to do what you want without

government interference

Privacy is found:

Nowhere in the Constitution!

Zones of Privacy

• First Amendment (religion, others)• Third Amendment (military quartering)• Fourth Amendment (search and seizure)• Fifth Amendment (self-incrimination)• Ninth Amendment (all other rights)• Fourteenth Amendment (due process)

How do courts tell whether privacy is violated?

• Reasonable Expectation of Privacy (REOP)

vs. government interest

What about:

• A public school requires students to obey a dress code and restricts the hair length of boys.

• The government requires taxpayers to reveal the source of their income, even if it is from illegal activities.

What about:

• A law forbids nude sunbathing anywhere at a community’s beaches.

• In a prison that has several stabbings, inmates are strip searched every day.

What about:

• A state law requires motorcyclists to wear helmets.

• The police place a small device in a phone that enables them to record all numbers dialed on that phone.

• The REOP in one’s home is very strong, except

when related to a crime.

• The REOP at school is very weak, except

for some confidentiality concerns.

• The REOP in information gathering is strong, except

for acts done in public.

• The REOP for family decisions is strong,

except in cases of abuse.

• The REOP for reproductive decisions is moderately strong,

except for all sorts of exceptions.

What about:

• A state law requires that the father of the baby provide written consent before a woman is able to obtain an abortion.

• A poor woman is unable to obtain an abortion because her state does not provide public funds to cover such a medical procedure.

What about:

• A state law requires a 24-hour waiting period between the time of the woman’s decision to have the abortion and the actual procedure.

• A state law requires a pregnant minor (someone under the age of 18) to obtain written consent from both parents in order to obtain an abortion.

What about:

• A state law requires a pregnant minor to obtain written consent from one parent or from a judge in order to obtain an abortion.

• The REOP in national security cases is weak,

especially in times of war.

Examples

• The USA Patriot Act allows greater government surveillance powers in the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks.

• President Lincoln suspended the writ of habeus corpus during the Civil War.

Examples

• During World War I, the federal government restricted the right to criticize the government, either verbally or in writing.

• During World War II, the federal government forced over 100,000 citizens of Japanese ancestry into detainment camps.