Which case recognized a right to privacy related to birth control for married couples?

Which case recognized a right to privacy related to birth control for married couples?

• A. New York Times v. Sullivan
• B. Griswold v. Connecticut
• C. Engel v. Vitale
• D. Hernandez v. Texas

Answer: (B)

The main idea here is that the Constitution protects a zone of privacy in intimate, personal decisions, especially within marriage, even though privacy isn’t spelled out in the text. Griswold v. Connecticut held that a state ban on using birth control by married couples violated this right to privacy. The Court didn’t find a direct, explicit privacy clause in the Constitution; instead, it derived a protected privacy right from the combination of several amendments—the First, Third, Fourth, and Ninth—and, importantly, the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. By recognizing a marital privacy interest, the Court said the state cannot interfere with a couple’s decisions about contraception, at least in the context of marriage. This case is foundational for privacy jurisprudence and set the stage for later decisions about personal autonomy in intimate matters, including Roe v. Wade. The other cases address different constitutional issues—defamation standards for public officials, school-sponsored prayer and the Establishment Clause, and equal protection in jury selection—and do not involve a privacy right related to birth control.

The main idea here is that the Constitution protects a zone of privacy in intimate, personal decisions, especially within marriage, even though privacy isn’t spelled out in the text.

Griswold v. Connecticut held that a state ban on using birth control by married couples violated this right to privacy. The Court didn’t find a direct, explicit privacy clause in the Constitution; instead, it derived a protected privacy right from the combination of several amendments—the First, Third, Fourth, and Ninth—and, importantly, the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. By recognizing a marital privacy interest, the Court said the state cannot interfere with a couple’s decisions about contraception, at least in the context of marriage.

This case is foundational for privacy jurisprudence and set the stage for later decisions about personal autonomy in intimate matters, including Roe v. Wade. The other cases address different constitutional issues—defamation standards for public officials, school-sponsored prayer and the Establishment Clause, and equal protection in jury selection—and do not involve a privacy right related to birth control.