Bowers v. Hardwick
Bowers v. Hardwick (1986) is a U.S. Supreme Court decision in which a Georgia Law was upheld as constitutional. Before Lawrence v. Texas, the Bowers case concluded that sodomy between consenting adults could be criminalized.
The unofficial Syllabus of the Court's decision summarized:
The Constitution does not confer a fundamental right upon homosexuals to engage in sodomy. None of the fundamental rights announced in this Court's prior cases involving family relationships, marriage, or procreation bear any resemblance to the right asserted in this case. And any claim that those cases stand for the proposition that any kind of private sexual conduct between consenting adults is constitutionally insulated from state proscription is unsupportable. Pp. 478 U. S. 190-191.
Justice Byron White delivered the opinion of the court, joined by Justices Warren Burger, Lewis Powell, William Rehnquist, and Sandra Day O'Connor. Justices Burger and Powell filed concurring opinions. Justices Harry Blackmun (joined by Justices William Brennan, Thurgood Marshall, and John Paul Stevens) and Stevens (joined by Justices Brennan and Marshall) filed dissenting opinions.
- Case at Justia