Also known as: sexual intimacies · intimate relations · sexual relations
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
2 senses
A category of conduct that constitutes adequate provocation when a defendant discovers a spouse engaged in it with another person. The discovery supplies the objective element that would cause an ordinary person to experience a sudden and intense passion overwhelming self-control.
A category of conduct that constitutes adequate provocation when a defendant discovers a spouse engaged in it with another person. The discovery supplies the objective element that would cause an ordinary person to experience a sudden and intense passion overwhelming self-control.
Select any source to read its text and confirm it supports the definition.
Conduct protected within the fundamental right to privacy that shields intimate decisions and relationships from unwarranted state interference. The protection extends to consensual adult conduct in the home and to related choices concerning procreation and family life.
Select any source to read its text and confirm it supports the definition.
Conduct protected within the fundamental right to privacy that shields intimate decisions and relationships from unwarranted state interference. The protection extends to consensual adult conduct in the home and to related choices concerning procreation and family life.
Each sense below has its own examples, sources, and questions.
Sydney Santos returned after hours to retrieve documents and found her spouse pressed closely against the senior partner in a state of near undress. Overcome by the sight, Sydney shoved the partner into a cabinet, causing a fatal injury. The discovery of the spouse in this unmistakably sexual situation supplies the provocation that reduces the homicide from murder to voluntary manslaughter.
Discovery of a spouse engaged in sexual relations with another person is a classic category of adequate provocation. The sudden, direct observation of the act supplies the objective element that would overwhelm an ordinary person's self-control. Courts treat the discovery as sufficient when the other heat-of-passion requirements are also met.
Supporting sources
Mere words alone are categorically inadequate. Discovery of actual sexual relations or concrete evidence of such relations, however, crosses into the recognized category of adequate provocation.
Supporting sources
Simone Sanders and her partner were arrested in their bedroom for engaging in intimate acts prohibited by state law. The prosecution rested solely on the statute criminalizing the conduct between adults. The constitutional protection for sexual intimacy in the home bars enforcement of the statute against consenting adults.
Sylvia Santos faced prosecution under a statute that criminalized private intimate conduct between same-sex adults. She argued that the law invaded a protected sphere of personal liberty. The court rejected the claim that any constitutional guarantee of privacy in sexual intimacy invalidated the statute as applied to consensual adult behavior.
Sebastian Santos and his spouse sought to obtain contraceptives but were blocked by a state prohibition. They challenged the law as an intrusion into marital privacy. The court dismissed the case on ripeness grounds without reaching whether constitutional protection for decisions involving sexual intimacy and procreation would render the ban unenforceable.
Seth Shapiro and his spouse were threatened with prosecution for using contraceptives in their home. They brought suit asserting that the statute violated their right to make intimate marital decisions. The constitutional shield for sexual intimacy within marriage struck down the prohibition.
Stephen Shaw sought court-ordered visitation with his grandchildren over the objection of their mother. The mother argued that the order would interfere with her fundamental authority over family relationships. The constitutional protection for intimate family decisions requires deference to the parent's choices absent a compelling justification.
Yes. The Due Process Clause protects a zone of privacy that includes intimate sexual decisions between consenting adults in the home. Statutes criminalizing such conduct violate this liberty interest.
Supporting sources
Substantial financial incentives tied to forgoing contraception and coupled with intrusive state questioning about sexual activity can burden the protected right. When the pressure effectively coerces surrender of privacy interests, the program fails constitutional scrutiny.
Supporting sources
…an alleged "detrimental effect upon [their] marital happiness" because they are forced to "the choice of refraining from normal sexual relations or of endangering Mary Doe's health through a possible pregnancy." Their claim is that sometime in the future Mrs. Doe might become pregnant because of possible failure of contraceptive…