Prof. Scarberry writes: > Of course, to the extent that the provisions of the Bill of Rights > explicitly protect privacy interests against state governments, they do so > only through the 14th Amendment.
Comment: Don't forget that the 9th Amendment also recogizes the right to privacy against state governments. See Griswold. On the issue of a defining the right to privacy," it is important to point out that the Eur. Ct. H.R. cases cited by the Lawrence Court (and the American Convention on Human Rights, and the ICCPR) explicitly define the right to privacy because they rely upon the language of the European Convention on Human Rights. The right to privacy in Article 8 of the ECHR is defined as "the right to respect for his private and family life, his home and his correspondence." The right also is further defined by denoting which state interests are valid (e.g., protection of morals) in limiting the exercise of the right. Although the Constitution's text is vague as to whether it protects the right to privacy, construing the Constitution in conformity with the customary international law guaranteeing the right to privacy as reflected in the ECHR allows the 9th and 14th Amendments to guarantee a right to privacy that has substantial definition. Indeed, as I have argued previously, the Constitution is a federal treaty that REQUIRES such a construction. Francisco Forrest Martin
