Amsterdam Law Forum (May 2011)
Morality tales in comparative jurisprudence: what the law says about sex
Abstract
<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:WordDocument> <w:View>Normal</w:View> <w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:Compatibility> <w:BreakWrappedTables /> <w:SnapToGridInCell /> <w:WrapTextWithPunct /> <w:UseAsianBreakRules /> </w:Compatibility> <w:BrowserLevel>MicrosoftInternetExplorer4</w:BrowserLevel> </w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 10]> <mce:style><! /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman";} --> <!--[endif] --><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Garamond;">This article examines the use of public morality justifications in constitutional challenges to laws that criminalize same-sex sexual relationships.<span> </span>The author summarizes the Hart-Devlin debate and then studies the use of privacy and equality as counter-arguments to morality in court cases from the United States, Zimbabwe, Botswana, South Africa, and India.<span> </span>Lastly the author posits that the use of equality to expose morality as animus has far-reaching implications in cases that beyond sexual conduct.</span>
