majority opinion in Bowers v. Hardwick

E119848

Supreme Court majority opinion judicial opinion

The majority opinion in Bowers v. Hardwick is the 1986 U.S. Supreme Court decision, authored by Justice Byron White, that upheld the constitutionality of a Georgia law criminalizing consensual homosexual sodomy, later overturned by Lawrence v. Texas.

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All labels observed (5)

Label	Occurrences
Bowers v. Hardwick	2
Bowers v. Hardwick dissent (referenced in later LGBT rights jurisprudence)	1
criticized in later Supreme Court opinions including Lawrence v. Texas	1
majority opinion in Bowers v. Hardwick canonical	1
the Constitution does not confer a fundamental right upon homosexuals to engage in sodomy	1

How this entity was disambiguated

This entity first appeared as the object of triple T1025151 — resolving that mention is where its identity was fixed. The disambiguator weighed these candidate entities and picked the highlighted one (or “None”, minting a new entity). This is how homonymy is resolved: the same surface form can point to different entities.

NED1 Entity disambiguation (via context triple) gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07

Target entity: majority opinion in Bowers v. Hardwick
Context triple: [Byron R. White, notableWork, majority opinion in Bowers v. Hardwick]

A. Lawrence v. Texas (in part)
Lawrence v. Texas (in part) is a landmark 2003 U.S. Supreme Court decision that struck down laws criminalizing consensual same-sex intimacy, expanding constitutional protections for LGBTQ+ individuals.
B. Reed v. Reed
Reed v. Reed is a landmark 1971 U.S. Supreme Court case that for the first time struck down a law for discriminating on the basis of sex under the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.
C. Planned Parenthood v. Casey
Planned Parenthood v. Casey is a landmark 1992 U.S. Supreme Court decision that reaffirmed the constitutional right to abortion while allowing greater state regulation under the “undue burden” standard.
D. Griswold v. Connecticut
Griswold v. Connecticut is a landmark 1965 U.S. Supreme Court case that recognized a constitutional right to marital privacy and struck down a state ban on contraceptive use by married couples.
E. Doe v. Bolton
Doe v. Bolton is a 1973 U.S. Supreme Court decision that, alongside Roe v. Wade, expanded and defined the scope of abortion rights by striking down restrictive state regulations.
F. None of above. chosen
G. Unsure - the case is ambiguous/there is not enough information to decide.

NED2 Entity disambiguation (via description) gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07

Target entity: majority opinion in Bowers v. Hardwick
Target entity description: The majority opinion in Bowers v. Hardwick is the 1986 U.S. Supreme Court decision, authored by Justice Byron White, that upheld the constitutionality of a Georgia law criminalizing consensual homosexual sodomy, later overturned by Lawrence v. Texas.

A. Lawrence v. Texas (in part)
Lawrence v. Texas (in part) is a landmark 2003 U.S. Supreme Court decision that struck down laws criminalizing consensual same-sex intimacy, expanding constitutional protections for LGBTQ+ individuals.
B. Reed v. Reed
Reed v. Reed is a landmark 1971 U.S. Supreme Court case that for the first time struck down a law for discriminating on the basis of sex under the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.
C. Planned Parenthood v. Casey
Planned Parenthood v. Casey is a landmark 1992 U.S. Supreme Court decision that reaffirmed the constitutional right to abortion while allowing greater state regulation under the “undue burden” standard.
D. Griswold v. Connecticut
Griswold v. Connecticut is a landmark 1965 U.S. Supreme Court case that recognized a constitutional right to marital privacy and struck down a state ban on contraceptive use by married couples.
E. Doe v. Bolton
Doe v. Bolton is a 1973 U.S. Supreme Court decision that, alongside Roe v. Wade, expanded and defined the scope of abortion rights by striking down restrictive state regulations.
F. None of above. chosen

Statements (45)

Predicate	Object
instanceOf	Supreme Court majority opinion ⓘ judicial opinion ⓘ
author	Justice Byron White ⓘ linked to: Byron R. White
caseCitation	478 U.S. 186 ⓘ
caseName	Bowers v. Hardwick ⓘ
citationStyle	Bowers v. Hardwick, 478 U.S. 186 (1986) ⓘ linked to: Bowers v. Hardwick
constitutionalProvisionInterpreted	Fourteenth Amendment Due Process Clause ⓘ linked to: Due Process Clause
court	Supreme Court of the United States ⓘ
decisionDate	1986-06-30 ⓘ
docketNumber	No. 85-140 ⓘ
effect	upheld the constitutionality of Georgia’s sodomy statute at the time of decision ⓘ
held	a Georgia statute criminalizing sodomy was constitutional as applied to consensual homosexual conduct in the home ⓘ the Constitution does not confer a fundamental right upon homosexuals to engage in sodomy ⓘ linked to: majority opinion in Bowers v. Hardwick
impact	narrowed the scope of recognized privacy rights under the Due Process Clause until overruled ⓘ
joinedBy	Chief Justice Warren E. Burger ⓘ linked to: Warren E. Burger Justice Lewis F. Powell Jr. ⓘ linked to: Lewis F. Powell Jr. Justice Sandra Day O’Connor ⓘ linked to: Sandra Day O’Connor Justice William H. Rehnquist ⓘ linked to: William H. Rehnquist
jurisdiction	appeal from the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit ⓘ
legalIssue	criminalization of homosexual conduct ⓘ right to privacy ⓘ substantive due process ⓘ
locationOfChallengedConduct	Hardwick’s home in Georgia ⓘ
overruledBy	Lawrence v. Texas ⓘ linked to: Lawrence v. Texas (in part)
overruledByCitation	539 U.S. 558 ⓘ
overruledByDecisionDate	2003-06-26 ⓘ
partOf	Bowers v. Hardwick ⓘ
proceduralPosture	reversal of the Eleventh Circuit’s decision that had found the statute unconstitutional ⓘ
reasoning	concluded that proscriptions against sodomy have ancient roots and therefore do not violate the Due Process Clause ⓘ distinguished prior privacy cases involving marriage, procreation, contraception, family relationships, and child rearing ⓘ emphasized historical condemnation of homosexual sodomy in Western civilization and American law ⓘ framed the question as whether the Constitution confers a fundamental right upon homosexuals to engage in sodomy ⓘ stated that moral disapproval of homosexual conduct is a rational basis for legislation ⓘ
rejectedClaim	that consensual homosexual sodomy is a fundamental right deeply rooted in this Nation’s history and tradition ⓘ
relatedConcept	fundamental rights analysis ⓘ history and tradition test in substantive due process ⓘ
relatedStatute	Georgia sodomy statute ⓘ linked to: Lawrence v. Texas (in part)
standardOfReview	rational basis review ⓘ
subjectMatter	LGBT rights ⓘ constitutional law ⓘ criminal law ⓘ
subsequentCharacterization	described in Lawrence v. Texas as having been wrongly decided ⓘ
subsequentTreatment	criticized in later Supreme Court opinions including Lawrence v. Texas ⓘ linked to: majority opinion in Bowers v. Hardwick
termOfCourt	October Term 1985 ⓘ
voteCount	5–4 ⓘ

How these facts were elicited

Referenced by (6)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

Byron R. White → notableWork → majority opinion in Bowers v. Hardwick ⓘ

Lawrence v. Texas → overruledCase → Bowers v. Hardwick ⓘ

subject linked to: Lawrence v. Texas (in part)