Opinion ID: 1733223
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: The Right of Privacy Under the U.S. and Louisiana Constitutions

Text: Article I, § 5 (the Privacy Clause) of the Louisiana Constitution of 1974 expressly guarantees that every individual shall be secure against unreasonable invasions of privacy. It is undisputed that the guarantee of the right to privacy contained in the Louisiana Constitution affords more stringent protection of individual liberty than the Fourth Amendment to the Federal Constitution. State v. Perry, 610 So.2d 746, 756 (La.1992). That being said, this court has never determined whether the right to engage in oral or anal sex is protected by the Louisiana Constitution. Interpreting Louisiana's privacy clause, the Fourth Circuit noted, This clause is an explicit expression of the principles recognized in the United States Supreme Court decisions on the right to privacy. This clearly is true. However, the United States Supreme Court has never recognized a constitutional right to engage in oral or anal sex. Quite the contrary, it has explicitly rejected a privacy rights claim challenge to sodomy laws, specifically holding that the federal constitution does not prohibit states from enacting laws which prohibit private acts of consensual sodomy between adults. Bowers v. Hardwick, 478 U.S. 186, 106 S.Ct. 2841, 92 L.Ed.2d 140 (1986). Sodomy was a criminal offense at common law and was forbidden by the laws of the original thirteen States when they ratified the Bill of Rights. Bowers, 478 U.S. at 192, 106 S.Ct. 2841. [3] Clearly, Mr. Smith has no federal constitutional right to engage in acts proscribed by La.Rev.Stat. 14:89. Although we have explicitly rejected claims of La.Rev.Stat. 14:89 violating the federal right to privacy, State v. McCoy, 337 So.2d 192 (La.1976), we have never addressed La.Rev.Stat. 14:89 relative to a right to privacy guaranteed by the Louisiana Constitution. In State v. McCoy, 337 So.2d 192 (La.1976) the defendant attacked La.Rev.Stat. 14:89 as unconstitutional, inter alia, in light of the right of privacy recognized in Griswold v. Connecticut, 381 U.S. 479, 85 S.Ct. 1678, 14 L.Ed.2d 510 (1965). We rejected this position, citing Doe v. Commonwealth's Attorney for Richmond, 425 U.S. 901, 96 S.Ct. 1489, 47 L.Ed.2d 751 (1976), which upheld a Virginia law punishing crimes against nature when committed by consenting partners. The defense argues that the right to privacy guaranteed by the Louisiana Constitution grants citizens the right to engage in private oral sex. However, the only case law in Louisiana ever holding that the right of consenting adults to engage in private, noncommercial sexual activity free from government interference is protected by the Louisiana Constitution's privacy clause is the Fourth Circuit's opinion reversing the conviction of Mr. Smith. In Neal, 500 So.2d 374 (La.1987), we reviewed the Crime Against Nature Statute only for the purpose of explaining solicitations of sexual acts for compensation. Neal, 500 So.2d at 377. In so doing, we left for another day the determination of whether the request for recognition of a right to privacy insulating all private sexual acts for consenting adults. Id. at 378. Later, in State v. Baxley, 633 So.2d 142, 145 (La.2/28/94), we stated: On the facts presented, it is unnecessary to determine whether LSA-R.S. 14:89(A)(1) is unconstitutional and must be severed from the crime against nature statute. Baxley is charged with the conduct described by LSA-R.S. 14:89(A)(2), which prohibits soliciting compensated crimes against nature. Although the parameters of the state constitutional right to privacy in the sexual area have not been determined, See Neal, 500 So.2d at 378 (Privacy analysis under the federal constitution only, there is no protected privacy interest in public, commercial sexual conduct.) Today, however, we are asked to declare that our Louisiana Constitution confers upon Louisiana citizens a right to engage in consensual acts which have been prohibited by Louisiana law, in one form or another, for nearly two hundred years. In 1868, when the 14th Amendment was ratified, all but five of the thirty-seven States (including Louisiana) in the Union, had criminal sodomy laws. La.Rev.Stat., Crimes & Offenses, § 5 (1856). In fact, until 1961, all fifty states outlawed sodomy. Bowers, 478 U.S. at 192-93, 106 S.Ct. 2841. There are currently seventeen states, including Louisiana, which prohibit some form of crime against nature between consenting adults. [4] Precedent aside, however, the defendant would have us announce, as the Fourth Circuit did, a constitutional right to engage in oral sex. This we are unwilling to do. If this court were to hold that this constitutional right exists, not only would we misconstrue the Louisiana Constitution, but we would also violate the fundamental principle of separation of powers. There is no constitutional impediment to the legislature enacting La.Rev. Stat. 14:89.