Privacy

Tuya (fl. 13th century b.c.e.) To Westcar Papyrus

Royal woman of the Nineteenth Dynasty She was the consort of seti i (r. 1306-1290 b.c.e.) and the mother of ramesses ii (1290-1224 b.c.e.). A commoner, Tuya was the daughter of a military commander of chariots, raia, and his wife, also named Raia. She married seti i before he came to the throne and bore […]

Zone of privacy

In Griswold v. Connecticut, 381 U.S. 479 (1965), O. Douglas, who wrote the majority opinion, argued that the choices made by married couples with respect to family planning are contained within a “zone of privacy” into which the government should not intrude. Acknowledging that the right to privacy is not specified anywhere in the Constitution, […]

Wiretapping

Law enforcement uses a variety of tools to perform its functions, including conducting investigations and using wire and net taps, called trap-and-trace devices, to monitor or eavesdrop on suspected criminals. Use of such tools raises questions about privacy and the use of information acquired under a wiretap. Generally, there are three kinds of devices used […]

Women and privacy

Women’s reasonable expectations of privacy are often infringed upon differently than those of men. Privacy most fundamentally means the right and ability to keep others out. Women, like men, have longed for and sought freedom from unwanted intrusion and forced intimacy. However, only recently have such forms of privacy become realities for many women. Certain […]

Workplace privacy

The field of workplace privacy involves a vast number of disparate topics and is governed by a wide range of different laws, from the United States Constitution to state and local laws in a number of jurisdictions. Accordingly, the law of workplace privacy varies from state to state and jurisdiction to jurisdiction. What issues of […]

X-ray devices

Discovered in 1895 by W. C. Roentgen, x-rays are a form of invisible, highly penetrating electromagnetic radiation. Because of their ability to pass through most material, x-rays are used in a variety of applications, including security settings. Since the events of September 2001, the U.S. government has been investing enormous amounts of money and effort […]

Washington et al. v. Glucksberg et al., 521 U.S. 702 (1997)

Glucksberg was a doctor in the state of Washington. Along with several other physicians, a few terminally ill patients who later died, and a nonprofit organization, Glucksberg brought suit challenging the state’s ban on physician-assisted suicide. The question before the Court was whether the state’s ban on physician-assisted suicide violated the Fourteenth Amendment Due Process […]

Watkins v. United States, 354 U.S. 178 (1957)

In 1954 John Watkins, a labor organizer, appeared in front of the Subcommittee of the Committee on Un-American Activities of the House of Representatives in compliance with a subpoena. The purpose of the committee was to investigate and, in some cases, expose, the activities of members of the Communist Party. Watkins had either been a […]

Webster v. Reproductive Health Services, 492 U.S. 490 (1989)

This case follows a long line of cases that have been decided since Roe v. Wade, 410 U.S. 113 (1973). In 1986 the state of Missouri passed legislation placing restrictions on abortions performed in the state. The preamble to the statute stated that life begins at conception, and it put into effect the following limitations: […]

Weeks v. United States, 232 U.S. 383 (1914)

Fremont Weeks was indicted for unlawful use of the mails for transporting lottery tickets in violation of federal statute. He was arrested, without a warrant, by a police officer in Kansas City, Missouri, at his place of employment. Other officers had gone to Weeks’s house; a neighbor told them where he kept his key, and […]

← Previous Entries