Supreme Court and the Intimate Lives of Americans : Birth, Sex, Marriage, Childrearing, and Death

by Ball, Howard

• ISBN13: 9780814798638
• ISBN10: 0814798632
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2004-06-28
• Publisher: New York University Press

Summary

ChoiceOutstanding Academic Title 2003Personal rights, such as the right to procreate--or not--and the right to die generate endless debate. This book maps out the legal, political, and ethical issues swirling around personal rights. Howard Ball shows how the Supreme Court has grappled with the right to reproduce and to abort, and takes on the issue of auto-euthanasia and assisted suicide, from Karen Ann Quinlan through Kevorkian and just recently to the Florida case of the woman who was paralyzed by a gunshot from her mother and who had the plug pulled on herself.For the last half of the twentieth century, the justices of the Supreme Court have had to wrestle with new and difficult life and death questions for them as well as for doctors and their patients, medical ethicists, sociologists, medical practitioners, clergy, philosophers, law makers, and judges.The Supreme Court in the Intimate Lives of Americansoffers a look at these issues as they emerged and examines the manner in which the men and women of the U.S. Supreme Court addressed them.

Author Biography

Howard Ball is Professor Emeritus of Political Science and University Scholar at the University of Vermont. He is also Adjunct Professor of Law at Vermont Law School.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	xi
Introduction	1	(6)
1 "Fundamental" Rights versus State Interests: The Balancing Process	7	(24)
I "I Am Not Talking Very Much Like a Lawyer"	8	(5)
II The U.S. Supreme Court and "Fundamental" Rights	13	(2)
Case Study: Palko v Connecticut, 1937	13	(2)
III The Liberty and Rights Protected by the Due Process Clause	15	(7)
Case Study: Lochner v New York, 1905	15	(4)
Case Study: U.S. v Carolene Products, 1938, Footnote 4	19	(3)
IV Is There a Protected Liberty Interest for Persons Having Intimate Homosexual Relations?	22	(7)
Case Study: Bowers v Hardwick, 1986	24	(2)
Case Study: Roy Romer, Governor v Richard Evans et al., 1996	26	(3)
V The Limits of Sexual Privacy	29	(1)
VI Summing Up	30	(1)
2 Marriage and Marital Privacy	31	(37)
I "I Should Like to Suggest a Substantial Change for Your Consideration"	32	(3)
II Heterosexual Marriage	35	(9)
Case Study: Skinner v Oklahoma, 1942	42	(2)
III Molecular Changes in the Definition and Reality of the Traditional Marital Relationship	44	(5)
Case Study: Bradwell v Illinois, 1872	44	(2)
Case Study: Griswold v Connecticut, 1965	46	(3)
IV The Dilemma of Intimate Violence and Congressional Passage of the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA), 1994	49	(11)
Case Study: Joshua DeShaney, a minor, by his guardian ad litem, et al., v Winnebago County, Wisconsin Department of Social Services, et al., 1988	50	(6)
Case Study: US. v Morrison, 1999	56	(4)
V Same-Sex Marriage	60	(3)
Case Study: Stan Baker, et al. v State of Vermont, et al., 1999	61	(2)
VI Congressional Passage of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), 1996	63	(4)
Case Study: Nina Baehr v Miike, 1996, 1999	64	(3)
VII Summing Up	67	(1)
3 The "Rhapsody of the Unitary Family"	68	(22)
I "Something Smells about This Case"	70	(3)
II Who Is Family?	73	(4)
Case Study: Village of Belle Terre v Bruce Boraas, 1974	75	(2)
III Family Privacy versus State Interests	77	(6)
Case Study: Reynolds v US., 1878	78	(1)
Case Study: Michael H. v Gerald D., 1989	79	(4)
IV Family Privacy Rights versus Personal Autonomy and Other Constitutional Rights	83	(6)
Case Study: Time, Inc. v Hill, 1967	83	(4)
Case Study: Eisenstadt v Baird, 1971	87	(2)
V Summing Up	89	(1)
4 Motherhood or Not, That Is Her Decision	90	(32)
I "I Will Be God-damned!"	91	(2)
II Not Having Children: Abortion as a Personal Right	93	(8)
Case Study: Roe v Wade, 1972	95	(6)
III After Roe, What Are the Limits of "State Actions" That Regulate the Abortion Procedure?	101	(7)
Case Study: Webster v Reproductive Health Services, 1989	104	(4)
IV After Roe, What Are a Husband's Rights?	108	(3)
Case Study: Planned Parenthood of Southeastern Pennsylvania v Casey, 1992	110	(1)
V When a Minor Daughter Wants to Terminate Her Pregnancy	111	(3)
VI Back into the Vortex: The "Partial Birth" Abortion Controversy	114	(6)
Case Study: Stenberg v Carhart, 1999	117	(3)
VII Summing Up	120	(2)
5 Raising the Child: "Father Knows Best"?	122	(46)
I "This Is Really a Ridiculous Case to Be Absorbing Our Time"	123	(4)
II Raising and Educating Children	127	(12)
Case Study: Wisconsin v Yoder, 1972	132	(7)
III The Mental and Physical Health and Welfare of the Child	139	(21)
Case Study: Parham v J.R., 1979	146	(7)
Case Study: Ingraham v Wright, 1977	153	(7)
IV Children's Rights: Visiting the Grandparents	160	(6)
Case Study: Troxel v Granville, 2000	162	(4)
V Summing Up	166	(2)
6 "Let Me Go!": Death in the Family	168	(31)
I "This Case Should Never Have Been Started"	170	(5)
II Terminating Life Support for an Incompetent Family Member: Passive Euthanasia	175	(6)
Case Study: Cruzan Director, Missouri Department of Health, 1990	177	(4)
III Physician-Assisted Suicide: Active Euthanasia	181	(17)
Case Study: Washington State v Glucksberg, 1977; Vacco v Quill, 1997	186	(12)
IV Summing Up	198	(1)
7 Family and Personal Privacy in the Twenty-First Century	199	(20)
I "She Kept Screaming"	200	(3)
II Is the Home Still a Castle?	203	(5)
Case Study: Kyello v US., 2000	204	(4)
III The "Medical Necessity" Exception and Federal Anti-Marijuana-Use Law	208	(3)
IV Summing Up	211	(8)
Notes	219	(32)
Bibliography	251	(8)
Index	259	(6)
About the Author	265