The Right to Privacy

Warren & Brandeis's The Right to Privacy, with 2010 Foreword by Steven Alan Childress, J.D., Ph.D., a law professor at Tulane University. Active Table of Contents, linked footnotes, and original pagination embedded into text for continuity of citation, reference, and syllabus. Includes photos and rare press clippings that may have been the impetus for the authors. Care in rendering, proofreading, and formatting.


The most influential piece of legal scholarship in history? Many scholars say it is this 1890 Harvard Law Review article by two young Boston lawyers (one of whom later became a legendary Supreme Court Justice). They created wholesale -- by cleverly weaving strands of precedent, policy, and logic -- the legal concept of privacy, and the power of legal protection for that right. Their clear and effective prose stands the test of time, and created such modern notions as "inviolate personality," the law's "elasticity," and the problem of "piracy" and "gossip-mongers." They saw the threat of new technology, and offered legal reform to match new tech. 


Most of all, they asserted the "right to be let alone," and its implications to modern law are profound. That concept has grown into a constitutional law norm raising issues about abortion, drug testing, surveillance, free speech, publicity, the "right to die," medical confidentiality, and sexual orientation. All these spinoffs trace their origins to this master work. It is simply one of the most significant parts of the modern canon of law, politics, and sociology.


The new Foreword shares not only this import and effect, but also the fascinating backstory to the article. Its origins are found in Warren's own prickly experiences with the press, after yellow-journalism reports on family weddings. One myth has recently been debunked: it couldn't have been his daughter's wedding that upset him. The newer legend is explained, including the role of The Washington Post and the emerging paparazzi. This wasn't an academic exercise to Warren and Brandeis, it turns out. 


There is also a biographical summary of each author, noting some less-known questions about Brandeis's own judicial ethics later in life, as well as the possible tension between the privacy right and the First Amendment that Brandeis championed.