Privacy Law

Paper Summary:

This paper explains that the question arose in the 2003 U.S. Supreme Court case "Connecticut Dept. of Public Safety v. Doe", was how should the law, even in the case of sexual offenses to children, balance the issue of public safety and protection with the rights of the individual who committed the crime. The author describes Connecticut's "Megan's Law", which requires convicted sex offenses to register and have their names posted upon their release into the community, and the process of the legal challenge to this law. The paper concludes that the U.S. Supreme Court made a relatively technical ruling in the Connecticut case based upon the defendant's invocation of the Due Process Clause; however, the question of the individual's right to privacy and the need of the state to provide public safety still remains.

From the Paper:

"The U.S. Supreme Court, in 2003 lead by Chief Justice Rehnquist, disagreed with the Second Circuit Court. It decided that the Connecticut Second Circuit's judgment should be reversed because the court required that the defendant have a hearing to be subject to the public list, which the Supreme Court did not feel to be necessary. The court unanimously decided that due process does not require a convicted defendant have an opportunity to prove a fact and an injury to an individual's reputation in a hearing."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Dorf, Michael. (8 Oct 2002). "Megan's Law. Copyright, free speech among issues before Supreme Court." CNN.com. Retrieved 9 Feb at 2008 at http://archives.cnn.com/2002/LAW/10/08/findlaw.analysis.dorf.scotus/index.html
• "Privacy loses to security: The United States Supreme Court rules that states can put sex offenders on the WWW. (Connecticut Dept. of Public Safety v. Doe, 123 S.Ct. 1160, 71 USLW 4125, 71 USLW 4158." (2003). Biotech Law: LSU. Retrieved 9 Feb at 2008 at http://biotech.law.lsu.edu/cases/pp/cn_v_doe.htm
• "Smith et al, v. Doe et al. (2003). Findlaw. 2008. Retrieved 10 Feb at 2008 at http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/scripts/getcase.pl?court=US&vol=000&invol=01-729
• "U.S. Constitution: Fourteenth Amendment." Findlaw. 2008. Retrieved 9 Feb at 2008 at http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/data/constitution/amendment14/

More papers on Privacy Law:

• Essay # 89961 : "Privacy Laws and Non-Profit Organizations"
• Essay # 32373 : "Privacy Laws in Canada"
• Essay # 110782 : "Information Technology Law"

APA Citation:

MLA Citation: