Which case grounded the right to privacy in the Penumbras of the Bill of Rights?

Which case grounded the right to privacy in the Penumbras of the Bill of Rights?

• A. Griswold v. Connecticut (1965)
• B. Abington School District v. Schempp (1963)
• C. Lawrence v. Texas (2003)
• D. Obergefell v. Hodges (2015)

Answer: (A)

The idea being tested is that some privacy rights are not spoken of in the text of the Constitution but are implied from the structure of the Bill of Rights—the so-called penumbras. The case that first grounded a right to privacy in these penumbras is Griswold v. Connecticut. In that decision, the Court struck down a law banning contraception for married couples, holding that the Constitution protects a zone of marital privacy. The reasoning tied this privacy to the First, Third, Fourth, and Ninth Amendments and the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, showing how these provisions collectively imply protections not explicitly stated. This framing laid the groundwork for later privacy rulings, even as subsequent cases involve privacy in different contexts. The other options focus on religion in public schools or on private sexual conduct and marriage from different constitutional angles, rather than establishing privacy itself as a penumbral right.

The idea being tested is that some privacy rights are not spoken of in the text of the Constitution but are implied from the structure of the Bill of Rights—the so-called penumbras. The case that first grounded a right to privacy in these penumbras is Griswold v. Connecticut. In that decision, the Court struck down a law banning contraception for married couples, holding that the Constitution protects a zone of marital privacy. The reasoning tied this privacy to the First, Third, Fourth, and Ninth Amendments and the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, showing how these provisions collectively imply protections not explicitly stated. This framing laid the groundwork for later privacy rulings, even as subsequent cases involve privacy in different contexts. The other options focus on religion in public schools or on private sexual conduct and marriage from different constitutional angles, rather than establishing privacy itself as a penumbral right.