The Right to Privacy :: Papers

The Right to Privacy Our country's fathers found themselves in a dilemma ratifying the Constitution. New York, one of the most powerful states, required a Bill of Rights be added before ratification. This was an incredible task for James Madison, the Father of the Constitution. Madison opposed enumerating a Bill of Rights for reasons expressed in the Ninth Amendment. Madison feared the listing of specific rights might be construed as the only rights citizens possessed. He was quite correct in his perception. Advances in technology, such as video cameras, phone taps, and Internet invasion, make privacy a very different issue in the new millennium than it was in 1791. The right to privacy is defined as the right to be protected from unwarranted intrusion by the government, media, or other institutions or individuals. There are many historical court cases dealing with the issue of privacy; some have become landmark cases that have shaped a whole new attitude about American civil rights. A few examples of such cases are The U.S Supreme Court decisions in Griswold vs. Connecticut (1965), and Roe vs. Wade and (1973). In addition to such monumental cases, many more recent, smaller cases have shaped the our right to privacy. Computer and telecommunication advances have made credit, medical, and other data readily available, highly marketable commodities, raising many concerns about individual's privacy. While few may be inclined to argue against the rights of citizens there is the question of the framers' original intent in adopting the Ninth Amendment. Most constitutional experts assume Madison meant simply "The enumeration of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people." (Amendment IX) However, "The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers and effects" has become a much more complicated issue than it was in the later part of the 18th century. The requirement of the states to include a Bill of Rights was ,in theory, a sound idea. The rights of the people should be protected. The times called for a specific list of these rights because of frequent failure to protest them. The purpose of the Bill of Rights was to state the rights of the people and to serve as law to protect them. The Bill of Rights lists both the civil liberties, freedoms guaranteed to an individual, and civil rights, what the government must provide for an individual.