Which case struck down laws criminalizing sodomy as an inviolable constitutional liberty?

Which case struck down laws criminalizing sodomy as an inviolable constitutional liberty?

• A. Griswold v. Connecticut (1965)
• B. Engel v. Vitale (1962)
• C. Lawrence v. Texas (2003)
• D. Obergefell v. Hodges (2015)

Answer: (C)

Lawrence v. Texas is the case. It holds that adults have a liberty to engage in private, consensual sexual conduct, protected by the due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. Because of that protection, states cannot criminalize private sexual activity between consenting adults, so sodomy laws are unconstitutional when applied to private conduct. The decision explicitly overruled the earlier ruling in Bowers v. Hardwick and centers on a substantive due process right to intimate autonomy, not on equal protection. Griswold v. Connecticut helped establish a broader privacy principle related to marriage and contraception, but it did not itself strike down sodomy laws. Engel v. Vitale deals with the Establishment Clause and school prayer, not sexual liberty. Obergefell v. Hodges recognizes a right to same-sex marriage, building on privacy and liberty principles, but it addresses marriage equality rather than striking down sodomy laws directly.

Lawrence v. Texas is the case. It holds that adults have a liberty to engage in private, consensual sexual conduct, protected by the due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. Because of that protection, states cannot criminalize private sexual activity between consenting adults, so sodomy laws are unconstitutional when applied to private conduct. The decision explicitly overruled the earlier ruling in Bowers v. Hardwick and centers on a substantive due process right to intimate autonomy, not on equal protection.

Griswold v. Connecticut helped establish a broader privacy principle related to marriage and contraception, but it did not itself strike down sodomy laws. Engel v. Vitale deals with the Establishment Clause and school prayer, not sexual liberty. Obergefell v. Hodges recognizes a right to same-sex marriage, building on privacy and liberty principles, but it addresses marriage equality rather than striking down sodomy laws directly.