VIGILANTISM, TEXAS, PRIVACY, AND LIBERTY: WAITING ONCE AGAIN FOR THE SUPREME COURT TO SPEAK

Abstract

Is there a constitutionally protected right to privacy? This is not an article in support of or in opposition to abortion rights. In fact, it is not an article about abortion at all. Rather, in light of two actions of the United States Supreme Court that took place in 2021, the authors have undertaken in Part I of this study a review of Supreme Court precedents, statutory materials, and other state and federal legislative actions relating to the issues of privacy and liberty. The article is written in the context of the debate over reproductive rights and examines the rationale used by courts to make critical distinctions in cases where not only reproductive rights were at issue, but also where questions were raised relating to the existence of a broader constitutionally protected right to privacy which we will consider in other discreet areas in Part II of the study.