Privacy Law Commons^™

Section 7: Privacy, Institute Of Bill Of Rights Law, William & Mary Law School

Supreme Court Preview

No abstract provided.

Whose Genes Are These Anyway?: Familial Conflicts Over Access To Genetic Information, Sonia M. Suter

Michigan Law Review

This Note argues first that courts and legislatures should follow a presumption against mandating disclosure of a person's genetic information to third parties. Second, genetic testing for the benefit of a third party should not, and constitutionally cannot, be compelled. Part I presents an overview of genetics and discusses the special legal and ethical issues genetic testing poses. Part II examines the issue of nonconsensual disclosure to family members, who could potentially use the information from tests that have already been performed. This Part concludes that there should be a presumption against disclosure. Part III examines a related, but different, …

Constitutional Posture Of Canine Sniffs, Lina Shahin

Touro Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Supreme Court As Risk Manager: An Analysis Of Skinner, Todd F. Volyn, James F. Mogan, Lisa M. White

RISK: Health, Safety & Environment (1990-2002)

Examining a recent case in which the U.S. Supreme Court approved the collection of blood and urine samples from railroad employees, the authors conclude that, in attempting to improve railroad safety, both majority and minority opinions reflected undue emphasis on technical issues and inadequate attention to the intangible social values underlying traditional Constitutional rights to privacy.

Draft Of From Privacy To Publicity - 1991, Wendy J. Gordon

Scholarship Chronologically

In defense of a "right 'to be let alone'", Warren and Brandeis published their landmark article, The Right to Privacy, approximately one hundred years ago. Over seventy years later, the American Law Institute endorsed a tort right in defense of privacy, and also included in its section on privacy rights a cause of action to redress "appropriation" of one's "name or likeness". Since then courts have used various bases to grant celebrities rights to protect their commercial identities from commercial exploitation by others. Although most states now recognize a right of publicity either by judicial decision or statute, the cause …

Some Queries About Privacy And Constitutional Rights, Michael Grossberg

Articles by Maurer Faculty

No abstract provided.

Private Lives, Public Selves, Jean B. Elshtain

Vanderbilt Law Review

What of the making public of a letter, what of the vocation of correspondent? Letters are a private genre, belonging in general, Kundera would say, to the domain of intimate life. When they "go public" some boundary is crossed, some violation is committed. Kundera's position hints that the great Oliver Wendell Holmes was perhaps a bit of a monster, seeming in his private life to be very much the "same" man as he was in his public vocation, except for his romantic effulgency with Clare Castletown. Reading this occasionally twittery and school boyish prose in Professor G. Edward White's article, …

The Constitutionality Of An Off-Dutysmoking Ban For Public Employees:Should The State Butt Out?, Elizabeth B. Thompson

Vanderbilt Law Review

During the past several years, restrictions imposed by states, cities,and municipalities on smoking in public areas have survived court challenges and become almost commonplace.' Likewise, both public and private employers have limited smoking in the workplace. A further restriction that seems to be emerging, however, is a refusal by both the state and a growing number of private employers to hire or to continue to employ smokers. These restrictions limit the employee's freedom to smoke not only in the workplace, but also after working hours and within the privacy of the worker's home.

This Note will address the constitutionality of …

Privacy In A Public Society: Human Rights In Conflict, David Clark Esseks

Michigan Law Review

A Review of Privacy in a Public Society: Human Rights in Conflict by Richard F. Hixson

Computer Data Banks And Personal Information: Protection Against Negligent Disclosure, Chris Dockrill

Dalhousie Law Journal

The common law has for centuries recognized the protection of certain interests which fall under the rubric of what is commonly referred to as the right of privacy.' While these safeguards have not always satisfied the concerns of the aggrieved individual, they have and continue to afford some measure of protection. The recognition of a need for a more specific means of protecting such interests is more recent in origin, dating to the later part of the last century.

Privatization Of Corrections: Is The State Out On A Limb When The Company Goes Bankrupt?, Cathy E. Holley

Vanderbilt Law Review

The incarceration of convicted criminals is an important matter to law enforcement officials and the public at large. Institutional correctional services consume significant governmental energy and resources. In 1983 corrections, including jails, prisons, probation, and parole, cost over 10.4 billion dollars. In 1985 approximately 503,000 people were imprisoned in federal and state correctional facilities.' The provision of prison services must occur on a continuous basis, and space must be available for every convicted criminal. As certain commentators have noted, "[o]ne cannot simply let offenders wait in line for an opening."'Historically, local, state, and federal government has overseen and operated our …

State-Interest Analysis In Fourteenth-Amendment "Privacy" Law: An Essay On The Constitutionalization Of Social Issues, Carl E. Schneider

Articles

Asked to resolve a social issue, Americans today turn readily to rights and to the Constitution that is understood to embody them. Many "vice" issues have long been thought particularly apt for a rights analysis. A constitutional resolution of vice issues is therefore inevitably a possibility, and its wisdom is inevitably a question. In this essay, I want to address that question by investigating an area of the law that has been recently constitutionalized family law. Family law is an example worth studying because rights thinking has won a considerable prominence in it: The Constitution has been used to transform …

Are Privacy And Public Disclossure Compatible?: The Privacy Exemption To Washington's Freedom Of Information Act—In Re Rosier, 105 Wn. 2d 606, 717 P.2d 1353 (1986), Matthew Edwards

Washington Law Review

In 1972, Washington State voters passed Initiative 276, the Public Disclosure Act, by a substantial margin. The initiative contained four measures intended to open up government, including one designed to ensure public access to government-held records. This measure, popularly known as Washington's Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), provides a mechanism by which individuals can access information held by the government, subject to only a few exemptions. One such exemption prevents disclosure which is an "unreasonable invasion" of personal privacy. The Washington Supreme Court greatly expanded the scope of this personal privacy exemption in In re Rosier. Prior to this decision, …

Evolving Constitutional Concepts Of Privacy, Roger J. Miner '56

Constitutional Law

No abstract provided.

Privacy, Abortion, And Judicial Review: Haunted By The Ghost Of Lochner, Helen Garfield

Washington Law Review

This article poses the question whether Lochner can finally be laid to rest without repudiating all applications of substantive due process, particularly protection of privacy and autonomy. The answer to that question requires a closer look at Lochner itself, and then at Griswold, Roe, and a few of the cases in between. The answers suggested by Ely, Perry, Choper, and others will then be discussed. Finally, this article will examine the ideas and ideals of the man who first conceived the common law right of privacy, Justice Louis D. Brandeis.

The Securing Of The Premises Exception: A Search For The Proper Balance, Adam K. Peck

Vanderbilt Law Review

This Recent Development argues that although an opinion endorsed by only two justices is not binding precedent, this portion of Segura represents an undesirable departure from the strict protections traditionally afforded a person's privacy interest in the home and leaves lower courts confused about the constitutional limitations on seizures in the home. Part II examines prior Supreme Court opinions that have defined the parameters of permissible warrantless searches and seizures. Part III explores the circuit court opinions that have developed a "securing of the premises"exception. Part IV describes Chief Justice Burger's analysis in Segura. Part V argues that the Chief …

High Technology, The Human Image, And Constitutional Value, Patrick L. Baude

Articles by Maurer Faculty

No abstract provided.

Privacy In Confucian And Taoist Thought, Christina B. Whitman

Book Chapters

Only three aspects of the broad concept "privacy" will be explored in this essay: privacy as providing a sphere for intimate personal relationships with family and friends, privacy as freedom from surveillance for purposes of gathering personal information, and privacy as freedom from interference by government or social controls. These concepts describe quite different concerns. They are often grouped together under the single term "privacy," but not without some strain... A comparison between a modern Western value and its counterpart, if any, in very early Confucian and Taoist belief is inevitably somewhat strained. But it serves a purpose. If nothing …

Copyright And The Moral Right: Is An American Marriage Possible?, Roberta R. Kwall

Vanderbilt Law Review

The 1976 Copyright Act (the 1976 Act) embodies the most extensive reforms in the history of our nation's copyright laws. One proposed reform that is noticeably absent from the statutory scheme, however, is the explicit adoption of protections for the personal rights of creators with respect to their works. Instead,the 1976 Act continues this country's tradition of safeguarding only the pecuniary rights of a copyright owner. By assuring the copyright owner the exclusive rights to reproduce and distribute the original work, to prepare derivative works, and to perform and display publicly certain types of copyrighted works, the 1976 Act focuses …

Lost Privacy In The Computer Age: Computer Matching Programs Are Turning Uncle Sam Into Big Brother, Miriam Lapp Azrael

University of Baltimore Law Forum

No abstract provided.

The Constitutionality Of The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act Of 1978, Judith B. Anderson

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

Within its more limited scope, the Belfield decision provides a helpful approach to FISA cases by articulating both a solid rationale for FISA's in camera, ex parte provision and a workable balancing approach for determining whether open proceedings may be necessary. The Falvey decision, although broader in scope, does not provide a satisfactory rationale for FISA's deviation from the traditional fourth amendment warrant requirement, nor does it articulate a workable approach to evaluating a FISA-warranted surveillance. The Falvey court, by predicating its upholding of FISA on an acceptance of the national security exception, may perpetuate a debate that the statute …

Surrogate Gestation And The Protection Of Choice, Louise E. Graham

Law Faculty Scholarly Articles

Proponents of surrogate gestation contracts base their case on both the constitutional privacy rights of persons involved in the contract and the notion that contractual agreements are capable of sufficiently protecting all interests involved. This article first speculates on how courts might handle surrogate gestation contracts under existing laws and offers arguments for and against such contracts. Although some commentary on the contractual aspect of the agreement exists, little attention has been given to the privacy arguments of the parties. The major focus of this article, therefore, is upon the nature of the privacy claims asserted by the prospective parents …

The Adoptee's Right To Know: In Re Adoption Of A Female Infant, Zvi Greismann

Antioch Law Journal

Among the most difficult questions arising out of an adoption is whether a record should be reopened at the request of an adult adoptee seeking information about his or her biological parents. In most jurisdictions an adoptee seeking this information must obtain a court order.'Adoption proceedings are statutory and, therefore, proceedings to unseal records are governed by state adoption laws. However,existing statutory standards are vague. Ultimately the decision to grant or deny access is a discretionary one lying with the courts.Further, in exercising their discretion, courts are faced with the difficult problem of resolving potentially conflicting interests of the adoptee, …

Capacity To Contest A Search And Seizure: The Passing Of Old Rules And Some Suggestions For New Ones, Christopher Slobogin

Vanderbilt Law School Faculty Publications

Professor Slobogin examines recent Supreme Court decisions involving standing to challenge search and seizure violations, and argues that the Court's commitment to a "totality of the circumstances" approach has permitted erosion of fourth amendment protections. After concluding that these decisions provide little guidance to lower courts, Professor Slobogin offers a set of principles which will aid in analyzing the Court's direction.

Thinking Clearly About Privacy, Thomas Huff

Washington Law Review

The purpose of this article is to offer a fresh assessment of the right of privacy. It begins with discussion of the privacy norm, drawing on our ordinary judgments and experiences to clarify and elaborate the interest persons have in privacy. It then reviews some of the Supreme Court's reasoning on privacy, explains the Court's confusions, and proposes a way that we and the Court might think more clearly about these difficult matters.

Recent Treaties, James H. Bloem

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

To obtain information on the financial dealings of organized crime in Switzerland, the United States must show both probable cause and the absence of a reasonable possibility of conviction without the information. Thus, Switzerland has preserved its prudent and traditional requirement of secrecy with respect to transactions of those who utilize its financial institutions. Because the Treaty was drafted in two different legal environments, conflicts may rise under it. The limitation on use of any disclosed information to investigations or proceedings for which the information originally was granted does not coincide with the United States rule of evidence that allows …

Political Surveillance And The Fourth Amendment, Alan Meisel

Articles

The United States District Court case has left the scope of the warrant protection of the fourth amendment considerably clearer and broader. The door left ajar in Katz has been firmly fastened shut by the Court leaving only the traditional exceptions to the warrant requirement, which are based upon practical necessity, and the still unconfronted question of the power of the executive to conduct warrantless surveillances of foreign agents in national security cases." It is also clear that courts are no less competent to evaluate the appropriateness of a search and seizure in an internal security case than in a …

Book Notes, Law Review Staff

Vanderbilt Law Review

Book Notes --

The Strength of Government--By McGeorge Bundy Cambridge:Harvard University Press, 1968. Pp. xii, 107. $3.75.

Towards a Global Federalism-- By William 0. Douglas. New York: New York University Press, 1968. Pp. xi, 177, $7.95.

Democracy, Dissent, and Disorder: The Issues and the Law-- By Robert F. Drinan New York: The Seabury Press, 1969. Pp. 152,$4.95.

The End of Obscenity: The Trials of Lady Chatterly, Tropic of Cancer, and Fanny Hill --By Charles Rembar New York: Random House, Inc., 1968. Pp. xii, 528. $8.95.

Justice on Trial-- By A.L. Todd Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1964. Pp. ix, …

Banking-Disclosure Of Records-The Duty Of A Bank As To Customer Information, Robert B. Wessling S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

The purpose of this comment, therefore, is to describe the scope of the banker's duty as to customer information as best it can be discerned in light of the increasing exchange of credit information and increasing resort to such information by government agencies-particularly the Internal Revenue Service. In the process, it is hoped that attention will be drawn to the uncertainty which exists in this area, perhaps prompting action by the states or the banks themselves to clarify the scope of the duty and to encourage uniform treatment of customer information in a manner consistent with this duty.

Torts - Privacy - Collection Method, Frederic Brace S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

Plaintiff disputed the debt which the defendant corporation asserted against her. Defendant made no attempt to recover this asserted debt by legal action but instead sent a letter to the personnel director of plaintiff's employer. This letter stated that plaintiff had refused to cooperate in reaching an amicable settlement and requested the assistance of the personnel director in collecting this "honest debt." Plaintiff was then summoned to the office of her superior and informed that the letter would be placed in her file and remain there until the asserted indebtedness had been settled. Plaintiff sought damages for an invasion of …