Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Would you give your DNA to police to "help" them solve a crim
Originally posted by Kain99
Well, I searched my copy of the Constitution and I couldn't find the word privacy anywhere in the document.
The main part of the Constitution spells out the few things that government may do or must do, The Bill of Rights spells out what government may not do.
The government can't search or seize your property without due process of law.
It can't keep you in jail indefinitely without a trial.
It can't enact laws abridging the freedom of speech or religion, or infringing on the right to keep and bear arms. etc…
Some may say I am arguing semantics but I don’t think so. Privacy is not a right.
The bill of rights definitely is NOT a listing of what the government cannot do. We already had that. Anything the constitution didn't say the government could do is supposed to automatically be something that they can't do. But, first...
The right to privacy is implied: from the privacy to not testify against yourself to the privacy of not quartering troops to the privacy of not having your home or person illegally searched. The Supreme court has upheld this implied "right to privacy" numerous times. e.g. Griswold vs Connecticut (marital privacy) and the infamous and my personal favorite Roe vs Wade (implied right to privacy protects women's choice in abortion).
The Supreme Court has broadly defined privacy as the right of the individual to control the dissemination of information about oneself. Privacy as guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution differs in two significant ways from privacy protected by tort law: (1) the types of acts constituting an invasion of privacy are very different, and (2) the type of protection provided to individuals - constitutional privacy protects against governmental intrusion while tort law primarily protects against invasion by private parties. Fourth Amendment privacy rights only apply in those situations where the government is the primary actor, however it encompasses government employees and some government contractors whose activities might be considered as state action. Twenty-four states, including Colorado, through state constitutional provisions or statutes protect the individuals' right to privacy. Some of these constitutional provisions or statutes have been held to create a civil claim for invasion of privacy by private parties, while others have not.
--http://www.publaw.com/privacy.html
As for saying that something isn't a right:
Bill of Rights:
"Article [IX.]
The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people. "
Just because it's not listed explicitly, doesn't mean it's not a right. If i recall my history books, this amendment was added into the bill of rights because there was a big argument over whether to have a bill of rights in the first place for the very fact that people would take it as listing of our ONLY rights. It's more of a list of examples.
This is getting off topic and was covered in 6th grade, so I'm going back to new material. :flush:
Patriot Act if some pseudorandom govt shmuck decides I might burn someone's bushes terroristicly with my oft-malfunctioning dildo.
