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Simple English definitions for legal terms

Bowers v. Hardwick (1986)

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A quick definition of Bowers v. Hardwick (1986):

Bowers v. Hardwick was a court case in 1986 where the Supreme Court had to decide if it was okay for the state of Georgia to make it illegal for people to have sex with someone of the same gender. Hardwick, a gay man, was arrested for having consensual sex with another man in his home. He sued Georgia, saying the law was unconstitutional and that he could be arrested again in the future. The Supreme Court said that because most states had laws against gay sex, it wasn't a right protected by the Constitution. They said the law was okay, and Hardwick lost the case. However, in 2003, the Supreme Court changed their minds and said that it was unconstitutional to make gay sex illegal in the case of Lawrence v. Texas.

A more thorough explanation:

Bowers v. Hardwick (1986) was a case heard by the U.S. Supreme Court that dealt with the issue of whether a person had a Constitutional right to engage in homosexual sex. In this case, a man named Hardwick was arrested for engaging in consensual sex with another man in his home. Georgia had passed a law that criminalized both oral and anal sex, and Hardwick argued that the law was unconstitutional and that he was at risk of future arrest if the law remained in effect.

The Court considered that homosexual sodomy was criminal under the common law at the nation’s founding, as well as in most states at the ratification of the Fourteenth Amendment. At one point, all 50 states had laws against homosexual sodomy, and at the time of Bowers, almost half of the states and the District of Columbia still outlawed the practice. As such, the Court determined that homosexual sodomy was not “deeply rooted in this Nation’s history and tradition” nor “implicit in the concept of ordered liberty.” Thus, the right to privacy did not extend to homosexual sodomy as it was not a fundamental right. Under this reasoning, the statute need only pass the rational basis test of scrutiny, so the Court of Appeals’ decision was reversed.

The decision in Bowers was narrow, with five justices voting to uphold the law and four voting against it. The Supreme Court would directly overrule the decision in 2003 in the case of Lawrence v. Texas.

Example: Hardwick was arrested for engaging in consensual sex with another man in his home, which was criminalized under Georgia law. He argued that the law was unconstitutional and that he was at risk of future arrest if the law remained in effect. The Supreme Court ultimately upheld the law, stating that homosexual sodomy was not a fundamental right and therefore not protected under the right to privacy.

bounty hunter | Boy Scouts of America v. Dale (2000)

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triplethread
10:15
@BulbasaurNoLikeCardio: My nose is pierced and I run like 10 miles a week im good haha
BulbasaurNoLikeCardio
10:16
@babycat: if you are happy with them they look perfect, and if they are as big as you say I am sure people will still be looking with or without the piercing so you will get attention either way
Dkk
10:16
Closest I get to Russian is Lazy Square's cartoons. Should watch them. All very short cus he is lazy. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sGBkneu30Aw
JumpySubsequentDolphin
10:16
@BulbasaurNoLikeCardio: ohhh you mean septum? I think septum is even less painful than a nostril piercing
warning my discord pfp is fun lol and also i haven't changed my username since high school because i didn't feel like it 😭
10:18
LMAO yeah you have a fun pfp
BulbasaurNoLikeCardio
10:20
Yes the septum, so they don't feel weird or mess with breathing/running at all even when flipped in? At limit
snow
10:23
its been a quiet morning so far
LSDFan
10:23
i have no hope for today
JumpySubsequentDolphin
10:24
idk about septums, i only have nostril pierced @bulb
triplethread
10:24
snow i think we will prob hear back from kent the week of dec 1st
10:24
Past 10am and ....nothing
JumpySubsequentDolphin
10:24
I think UCLA a wave today no?
babycat
10:24
🚑
What time have UCLA waves been at
Dkk
10:24
It's only 7:24 AM. We on the west coast control the time.
thismanatemyson
10:25
UCLA please save me
triplethread
10:25
snow if i dont get invited for an honors college interview i might freak
Dkk
10:25
11:22:24 AM PST, wave will come.
triplethread
10:26
dkk are u a boy or a girl
Dkk
10:26
Wizard 101 told me I was a boy wizard.
triplethread
10:26
ok
BulbasaurNoLikeCardio
10:26
I am thinking it will be slower/quitter until after thanksgiving
snow
10:27
thread im like 90% sure im getting an R, but ive come to peace that this might be my unreasonable R for the cycle
triplethread
10:27
but snow we have the same stats. you'll be fine. i promise. if im this confident you should be too
Dkk
10:27
Only tiktok I will share cus I stay off that site.
I am sorry if you like it, but TikTok is fucking awful
LSDFan
10:28
tiktok is great
triplethread
10:28
i lub tik tok and reddit and instantgram
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