Walt Sherrill
Member
I’ve read repeatedly that there is NO RIGHT OF PRIVACY in the U.S. Constitution. I heard that statement again, recently, in a LAW & ORDER episode I was watching. (That program sometimes does a good job of addressing Constitutional issues.)
So… this is about the non-existent right of privacy. I'm thinking out loud. Help the think it through.
The Fourth Amendment addresses limits on the power of government to impose on the private property and households of individuals, saying, in effect, that government can’t enter your house, take your property, go through your effects, or perform an unreasonable search, etc., except with a legal justification that is well defined.
The Fourth Amendment seems to say to me that the Constitution limit’s government ability to impose on what most of us would say is our “privacy” – our private property, our personal effects, and the things we want to keep confidential.
If it's wrong for government to involve itself in (for sake of this discussion) what I would call priivate matters/privacy, are we then required to assume that ONLY GOVERNMENT is so enjoined?
If there is no Constitutional Right to privacy, doesn't that mean that other non-government entities or individuals CAN (any entity not addressed by the Constitition) come in, snoop around, pilfer, etc. and not keep it in confidence? If "privacy" exists in our relationships with priests, medical people, and attorneys (regardless of probably cause), why doesn't it exist elsewhere in a more limited form?
That doesn’t seem rational. Just as the right to life isn't something that is protected only when GOVERNMENT is the one doing the killing...
I think there is an implicit recognition of a right of privacty in the Fourth Amendment (and om other practices, religious, medical, and legal), but it just hasn’t been recognized for what it really is…
I’m curious about what the various students of the Constitution here, have to say on this matter.
I’ve read a lot, but never really seen this addressed. Maybe I just missed it.
So… this is about the non-existent right of privacy. I'm thinking out loud. Help the think it through.
I accept that the Constitution is, first and foremost, a document limiting the power of government. Originally, it was apparently intended to limit the power of the Federal government, but over time it has come also come to limit the power of the states, as well.Amendment IV
The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.
The Fourth Amendment addresses limits on the power of government to impose on the private property and households of individuals, saying, in effect, that government can’t enter your house, take your property, go through your effects, or perform an unreasonable search, etc., except with a legal justification that is well defined.
The Fourth Amendment seems to say to me that the Constitution limit’s government ability to impose on what most of us would say is our “privacy” – our private property, our personal effects, and the things we want to keep confidential.
If it's wrong for government to involve itself in (for sake of this discussion) what I would call priivate matters/privacy, are we then required to assume that ONLY GOVERNMENT is so enjoined?
If there is no Constitutional Right to privacy, doesn't that mean that other non-government entities or individuals CAN (any entity not addressed by the Constitition) come in, snoop around, pilfer, etc. and not keep it in confidence? If "privacy" exists in our relationships with priests, medical people, and attorneys (regardless of probably cause), why doesn't it exist elsewhere in a more limited form?
That doesn’t seem rational. Just as the right to life isn't something that is protected only when GOVERNMENT is the one doing the killing...
I think there is an implicit recognition of a right of privacty in the Fourth Amendment (and om other practices, religious, medical, and legal), but it just hasn’t been recognized for what it really is…
I’m curious about what the various students of the Constitution here, have to say on this matter.
I’ve read a lot, but never really seen this addressed. Maybe I just missed it.