Griswold V. Connecticut Case Brief

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Griswold v. Connecticut (1965) Facts: Appellants, Estelle T. Griswold and C. Lee Buxton of the Planned Parenthood League of Connecticut were arrested and charged for providing information, instruction, and medical advice to a married couple in order to prevent conception. Within the operations of the Planned Parenthood League the appellants examined the wife and prescribed to her what they viewed as the best contraceptive instrument for her situation. For the majority of their examples, the client was charged a fee for the service. The day of November 10, 1961 each appellant was arrested and charged accordingly. The two General Statutes of Connecticut that deal with this specific action and criminalized the appellants are ss 53-32 and 54-196. The former prohibiting the use of any kind of birth control while the latter extends the offense to anyone who assists, counsels, or advises another person to commit such action. After the arrest of Griswold and Buxton, the Circuit Court within the Sixth Circuit of Connecticut rendered their decision and the defendants were convicted of violating Connecticut's contraceptive laws. The defendants proceeded to appeal the judgment to the Appellate Division of the Circuit Court, but the court affirmed the original decision. Once again the defendants appealed and the case was directed to The Connecticut Supreme Court of Errors where it was affirmed. The defendants appealed once more to the US Supreme Court where the decision was reversed. Constitutional Question: Within constitutional law, does the United States Constitution guard the rights of married couple’s privacy against limitations of the state on the ability for a couple to accept counsel and advice in regards to contraceptives? Legal Reasoning: There are certain guarantees within the Bill of Rights. Although marital privacy is not explicitly mentioned within the

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