What was this case about?

The Supreme Court ruled that state laws prohibiting same-sex sexual conduct are unconstitutional.

How did this case get to the Supreme Court?

Houston police entered John Lawrence's apartment while responding to a reported weapons disturbance, and found Lawrence and Tyron Garner engaging in a private, consensual sexual act.

Texas law prohibited persons of the same sex from engaging in certain sexual conduct. Lawrence and Garner were arrested and convicted of deviate sexual intercourse.

The State Court of Appeals upheld the conviction. Lawrence and Garner appealed to the Supreme Court.

The court declared such laws unconstitutional

In his majority opinion, Justice Anthony Kennedy wrote that the law violated the Due Process clause of the Constitution's 14th Amendment.

Kennedy wrote...

Their right to liberty under the Due Process Clause gives them the full right to engage in their conduct without intervention of the government... The Texas statute furthers no legitimate state interest which can justify its intrusion into the personal and private life of the individual.

This case overturned a 1986 decision

This ruling overturned the 1986 Supreme Court ruling in Bowers v. Hardwick, which said that states have the right to criminalize such acts.

More information

For more, read the New York Times story.