Abstract
The issue of sexual freedom as a subset of the general right to privacy, while not novel, is still highly controversial both legally and socially. The Circuit Courts of Appeals have yet to agree whether the leading case on the issue, Lawrence v. Texas, 539 U.S. 558 (2003), affirmatively established the fundamental right to sexual privacy. The answer to this question means the difference between a world where off-duty sexual conduct stays private and respected by the government employers and a world where a public employee can be terminated without due process for his or her intimate activities. As a result, public agencies and departments have become a place of conflicting private rights and public duties, and the resulting disputes have produced varying results among the jurisdictions. This Comment focuses on the cases involving law enforcement officers terminated for inappropriate extra-marital conduct, while the underlying argument can be applied to a variety of similar issues that could fall within the scope of public employment and sexual privacy.
Recommended Citation
Sofya Bakradze, Let Go of Your Sexual Privacy or be Let Go? The Woe of Public Employees, 21(1) Marq. Ben & Soc. Welfare L. Rev. 39 (Spring 2020).