Griswold v. Connecticut
- Decided
- June 7, 1965
- Docket
- 496
- Status
- Published
- Jurisdiction
- Federal
Cited 4,329 timesNo negative treatment found in this library
What later courts said
- holding that "specific guarantees in the Bill of Rights have penumbras," one of which is the right of privacy — John Doe v. Joan Delie (2001)
- holding that a state statute forbidding the use of contraceptives violates the constitutional right of marital privacy — United States v. Howard Perry, Glen Hagen, James Geran, Kevin Dorr. United States of America v. Howard Perry and Gary Moore (1986)
- holding that physicians have standing to assert the constitutional rights of patients to whom they prescribed contraceptive devices — Ifeanyi Charles Anthony Okpalobi v. Mike Foster (1999)
Each line is a later court’s own words about this case, not a summary. Read the opinion before relying on it.
How the opinion begins
[*480] Mr. Justice Douglas delivered the opinion of the Court.
Appellant Griswold is Executive Director of the Planned Parenthood League of Connecticut. Appellant Buxton is a licensed physician and a professor at the Yale Medical School who served as Medical Director for the League at its Center in New Haven — a center open and operating from November 1 to November 10, 1961, when appellants were arrested.
They gave information, instruction, and medical advice to married persons as to the means of preventing conception. They examined the wife and prescribed the best contraceptive device or material for her use. Fees were usually charged, although some couples were serviced free.
Cite this
Griswold v. Connecticut, 381 U.S. 479 (1965)Read the full opinion
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