Philosophy 265 Reading Assignment for

Lawrence v. Texas (2003)

Background: Lawrence v. Texas (2003) overruled the Court’s previous holding in Bowers v. Hardwick (1986) that state anti-sodomy laws are constitutional. The Court in 2003 found that such laws violated individuals’ privacy rights. If you wish for more background on Bowers, click here for a short article.

The reading assignment has three parts.

Part 1: Read Justice Kennedy’s majority opinion here.

Part 2: Read sections II-IV of Justice Scalia’s dissent here. (If you have time, part I is an interesting discussion of stare decisis that is worth reading, though I will not require it.)

Part 3: Read Justice Thomas’s dissent here (it is very short).