The court ruled in 1969 that the right to privacy protected a person's right to possess and view pornography in his own home. Connecticut, a 1965 ruling that upheld marital privacy and struck down bans on contraception. However, the protections have been narrowly defined and usually only pertain to family, marriage, motherhood, procreation and child rearing.įor example, the Supreme Court first recognized that the various Bill of Rights guarantees creates a "zone of privacy" in Griswold v. No state shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States nor shall any state deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws. The right to privacy is most often cited in the Due Process Clause of the 14th Amendment, which states:
The Third Amendment protects the privacy of the home against the use of it for housing soldiers.
The First Amendment protects the privacy of beliefs.Constitution have been used in varying degrees of success in determining a right to personal autonomy: The right to privacy often means the right to personal autonomy, or the right to choose whether or not to engage in certain acts or have certain experiences.