Sexual Rights in America : The Ninth Amendment and the Pursuit of Happiness

View the Table of Contents. Read the Chapter 1.Sexual Rights in America develops an argument that us useful, timely, well conceived, and will provide a handy primer for courses designed to introduce students to the basics of constitutional privacy.--Journal of NSRCA fascinating...argument for the inclusion of sexual freedoms among the enumerated rights in the Ninth Amendment--ConscienceAs the subtitle suggest, the authors want to combine the least specific article of the Bill of Rights with the equally vague, if well-known, phrase from the Declaration of Independence, to make a case for the right of consenting American adults to have sex how, when, and with whom they like....Recommended. --ChoiceThe Constitution of the United States guarantees all Americans certain rights, such as the freedoms of speech and religious expression. But what guarantees our sexual freedoms?Sexual Rights in America presents a bold and intriguing look at the constitutional basis of sexual rights in America. Resurrecting the forgotten Ninth Amendment, which guarantees those fundamental rights not protected elsewhere in the Constitution, Abramson and colleagues argue that the freedom to choose how, when, and with whom we express ourselves sexually is integral to our happiness. Their careful review of the historical record reveals the importance of the pursuit of happiness in the socio-moral philosophy underpinning the Constitution. Sexual freedoms, they assert, are cut from the same cloth as the other freedoms protected by the Bill of Rights, and therefore, should be covered by the Ninth Amendment.Using concrete examples such as prostitution and phone sex, Sexual Rights in America illustrates the scope and limitations of Ninth Amendment sexual rights.

Paul R. Abramson is Professor of Psychology at the University of California, Los Angeles