About Ned

26 Pages Posted: 1 Feb 2016 Last revised: 26 Feb 2016

Date Written: January 26, 2016

Abstract

In this essay, I explore the possibility that the storied article "The Right to Privacy," 4 Harv. L. Rev. 193 (1890), might have come into existence in part because of lead author Sam Warren's powerful drive to protect his younger siblings -- and, in particular, his gay brother Ned. For reasons both obvious and less intuitive, Sam might have viewed the article as a promising vehicle for shielding Ned and the rest of the Warren family from potentially devastating journalistic and public scrutiny of Ned's sexuality.

Viewed in this light, the article acquires a special resonance in this, its one hundred twenty-fifth anniversary. Rhetoric central to the piece can be traced, link by link, case by case, to Supreme Court decisions that collectively established a multifaceted constitutional right to personal autonomy. The article can arguably be understood as a catalyst for the series of events culminating in the Supreme Court's 2015 recognition, in Obergefell v. Hodges, of a constitutional right to same-sex marriage.

If "The Right to Privacy" is indeed about Ned, even in part, then what originated as an effort to protect one gay man might, quite remarkably, be a 125-year-old precursor of the Court's decision securing the protection of a fundamental right for gay people throughout the nation.

Keywords: essay, legal, history, right, privacy, gay, Obergefell, marriage, equality, Warren, Brandeis,

Suggested Citation

Colman, Charles, About Ned (January 26, 2016). 129 Harv. L. Rev. F. 128 (2016), NYU School of Law, Public Law Research Paper no. 16-08, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2724772

Charles Colman (Contact Author)

Public Policy Center at UHM ( email )

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