Order Description

Examine and discuss the moral, political, policy and legal issues relating to sexual orientation and preference raised in the two highly controversial decisions handed down by the Supreme Court in
Bowers v. Hardwick (1986) and Lawrence v. Texas (2003). One is the case of Bowers v. Hardwood, [assumed spelling] which came from the State of Georgia, and the second case, the more recent one from
2003, is Lawrence v. Texas. In both these decisions, the Supreme Court had to deal with the problem of whether or not the personal decision to engage in one own, one’s own sexual behavior violated
the mores [phonetic] and morality, if you will, of the State and the people collectively through the legislation in each of these states. Justice Scalia’s dissent in the Lawrence decision, along
with Justice Kennedy’s opinion for the majority in that case, are especially useful in addressing the issues raised in this week’s materials. How does Justice Kennedy justify the shift in the
Supreme Court’s view of homosexual behavior in the Lawrence case? What problems does Justice Scalia raise in his dissent about issues of equality as they relate to homosexual behavior and morality?
How was the decision Hollingsworth v. Perry different than the previous cases and what can be said of the dissenting opinion in this case from Justice’s Kennedy?