Lecture 6: Civil Liberties, cont’d

1
Lecture 6 Civil Liberties, contd

• 2nd amendment
• Right to privacy
• Patriot Act/ 9/11

2
II Amendment

• Right to bear arms
• Ct said in 1939 right to bear arms tied to
  existence of state militias
• inconsistent lower court rulings

3
Right to Privacy

• Roe v Wade (1973)
• mother has right to choose through second
  trimester--point of viability outside the womb
• Chipping away Hyde Amendment
• Casey no more trimesters, instead undue
  burden--hence waiting periods, parental consent
• Access to services becoming more rare
• 2006 South Dakotas test ban

4
Right to Privacy, contd

• Bowers v Hardwick (1986)
• Georgia sodomy law upheld
• Lawrence v Texas (2003)
• Texas sodomy law overturned

5
Right to Privacy--right to die

• 1997 Ct No constitutional right to die--states
  may ban assisted suicide
• 2006 Ct Oregons Death with Dignity Act not in
  violation of a federal substance control law

6
Patriot Act

• Expanded third party surveillance powers under
  sec. 215
• no notification of directly concerned party
• no judicial oversight/recourse for injunction
• not probable cause, but assertion that the
  search is part of an ongoing terrorist
  investigation

7
Bush and warrantless wiretaps

• 1978 Congress established exception to warrant
  requirement with the Foreign Intelligence
  Surveillance Act (FISA)
• 2006 Bush argues
• 1) has authority as Commander in Chief in time
  of war
• 2) Congresss authorization to fight terror gave
  right to conduct warrantless searches outside of
  FISA

8
Other 9/11 issues

• Extra-legal zones--Guantanamo
• Ct in 2004 they are entitled to hearings in US
  courts
• Extra-legal persons--enemy combatants
• Ct citizens like Hamdi and Padilla still get
  lawyers and hearings before a neutral
  decision-maker
• http//www.informationclearinghouse.info/article13
  176.htm

9
The torture issue

• Interpreting Geneva Conventions
• The Geneva Conventions prohibit ''cruel treatment
  and torture'' and ''outrages upon personal
  dignity, in particular, humiliating and degrading
  treatment.''
• Extraordinary rendition and secret prisons
• 2006 Bush signs anti-torture law