Constitutional Law Keyed to Feldman
Bowers v. Hardwick
Facts
Respondent, Mr. Hardwick, an adult male, was charged with violating Georgia’s sodomy law by committing a sexual act with another adult male in his bedroom. The law defines sodomy as committing or submitting to “any sexual act involving the sex organs of one person and the mouth or anus of another.” After the prosecutor chose not to present the case to the grand jury, the Respondent sued in federal court to challenge the constitutionality of the law. The trial court rejected the claim, but the Court of Appeals reversed. It held that the law “violated respondent’s fundamental rights because his homosexual activity is a private and intimate association that is beyond the reach of state regulation.
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