Essay on Right To Privacy

Right To Privacy Term Papers

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Our country’s fathers found themselves in a dilemma ratifying the Constitution. New York, one of the most powerful states, required a Bill of Rights be added before ratification. This was an incredible task for James Madison, the Father of the Constitution. Madison opposed enumerating a Bill of Rights for reasons expressed in the Ninth Amendment. Madison feared the listing of specific rights might be construed as the only rights citizens possessed. He was quite correct in his perception. Advances in technology, such as video cameras, phone taps, and Internet invasion, make privacy a very different issue in the new millennium than it was in 1791. The right to privacy is defined as the right to be protected from unwarranted intrusion by the government, media, or other institutions or individuals. There are many historical court cases dealing with the issue of privacy; some have become landmark cases that have shaped a whole new attitude about American civil rights. A few examples of such cases are The U.S Supreme Court decisions in Griswold vs. Connecticut (1965), and Roe vs. Wade and (1973). In addition to such monumental cases, many more recent, smaller cases have shaped the our right to privacy. Computer and telecommunication advances have made credit, medical, and other data readily available, highly marketable commodities, raising many concerns about individual’s privacy. While few may be inclined to argue against the rights of citizens there is the question of the framers’ original intent in adopting the Ninth Amendment. Most constitutional experts assume Madison meant simply “The enumeration of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.” (Amendment IX) However, “The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers and effects” has become a much more complicated issue than it was in the later part of the 18th century.

The requirement of the states to include a Bill of Rights was ,in theory, a sound idea. The rights of the people should be protected. The times called for a specific list of these rights because of frequent failure to protest them. The purpose of the Bill of Rights was to state the rights of the people and to serve as law to protect them. The Bill of Rights lists both the civil liberties, freedoms guaranteed to an individual, and civil rights, what the government must provide for an individual. The list includes freedom of religion, speech, and press; the right to assemble peaceably and to petition the government, the right to bear arms, and the rights of the accused. The main opposition to the Bill of Rights came from Madison himself. He believed that an enumerated list of rights would limit protection to what is written. This led Madison to include the ninth amendment. The ninth amendment states that “The listing of some rights did not mean that government could infringe on others not listed.” (Ninth Amendment). This amendment is crucial to the lasting protection of rights guaranteed by the Bill of Rights allowing the means of privacy to change with time. Though the Bill of Rights did not settle all the disputes concerning the Constitution it did ,however, establish an outline to be changed and revised as necessary to keep current.

One example of how the Ninth Amendment has benefited the people is in the case of Griswold vs. Connecticut (1965). Estelle Griswold, a director of a family clinic, and Dr. Lee Buxton, a physician at the clinic were convicted of violating a state law prohibiting any distribution or advice about contraception to married couples. The accused believed the law invaded the private aspects of the people. In his ruling Justice Douglas stated “. specific guarantees in the Bill of Rights have penumbras, formed by emations from those guarantees that help give them life and substance.” That means the right to birth control can by no means be expected to be covered in a document written in 1791, yet the right to it can be implied by the power of the Ninth Amendment. This was Madison’s reasoning behind including the amendment, so it would always be able to cover our rights. There was an overabundance of controversy on the ruling. Most of the argument was the inventing of freedoms. In any case Griswold’s fight was monumental in the battle for privacy.

Another landmark case for privacy is Roe vs. Wade (1973). This case was about a woman from Texas who believed a Texas law preventing women from getting an abortion, unless her life was in danger if she went through with the birth, unconstitutional. The main objective was to “…determine the limits of federal court authority in reviewing state court proceedings (Wool,276).Justice Douglas,...

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