Item Tag: 1986 and 2003

Two landmark cases issued by the Supreme Court of the United States on the subject of same-sex sexual activity. The first is Lawrence v. Texas issued on June 26, 2003. It is a landmark case invalidating sodomy law across the US making same-sex sexual activity legal in every State and US territory. The opinion overturned the previous ruling in Bowers v. Hardwick (June 30, 1986) where it upheld a Georgia statute and did not find a constitutional protection of sexual privacy. The Lawrence decision was a breakthrough for the gay rights movement and helped set the stage for the same-sex marriage case that would follow years later. One of the cases is a Bench Opinion (day of) and the other is a Slip Opinion (a few weeks after the decision is announced). I guarantee these are authentic — based on a decades long career at the Court. They are unique and perishable copies of the cases and a unique opportunity to hold a piece of history. Item ships fully insured via priooirty mail. Here’s an explanation of the two versions taken from the Court’s web site: On days that opinions are announced by the Court from the bench, the text of each opinion is made available immediately to the public and the press in a printed form called a «bench opinion.» The bench opinion pamphlet for each case consists of the majority or plurality opinion, any concurring or dissenting opinions written by the Justices, and a prefatory syllabus prepared by the Reporter’s Office that summarizes the decision. Bench opinions are printed at the Court, generally in 5 ½» x 8 ½» self-cover pamphlets. They are made available to the public by the Court’s Public Information Office. The text of each bench opinion is also disseminated electronically via Project Hermes, one of the Court’s two opinion dissemination systems (this website is the other). Hermes subscribers include universities, news media, and publishing companies. A number of these organizations provide on-line access to the bench opinions via the Internet within minutes after they are released by the Court. Several days after an opinion is announced by the Court, it is printed in a 6″ x 9″ self-cover pamphlet called a «slip opinion.» Each slip opinion consists of the majority or plurality opinion, any concurring or dissenting opinions, and the syllabus. It may contain corrections not appearing in the bench opinion. Slip opinion page proofs are sent to a commercial printing company under contract with the GPO, and the company prints the slip opinions in accordance with the Court’s specifications. The slip opinion pamphlets are distributed free of charge, while supplies last, by the Court’s Public Information Office. They are also sold by the GPO. The text of each slip opinion is also disseminated electronically, usually within minutes after the opinion is announced. Slip opinions remain posted here until the opinions for an entire Term are published in the bound volumes of the U. S. Reports. The number of slip opinions varies each Term, but is generally fewer than 100.