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Bowers V. Hardwick: Diverging Interpretations, Warren D. Leishman

Brigham Young University Prelaw Review

Rarely does the serving of a simple misdemeanor warrant result in a case tried before the highest court in the land, but this is what happened to Michael Hardwick in August, 1982. Police officers arriving at his house were let in by a houseguest who led the policemen to the bedroom. At this point they stumbled upon Hardwick engaged in a sexual act with another man, an act which, under Georgia Code 16-6-2, constituted sodomy and was thus punishable "by imprisonment for not less than one nor more than twenty years." Michael Hardwick was arrested and charged, the first such …