Florida’s Privacy Paradox

Authors

Emily Grady, University of Miami School of Law

Abstract

For almost half a century, Floridians have enjoyed a right to privacy specially guaranteed to them by the Florida constitution. This broad right to privacy, pre-Dobbs, guaranteed several specific rights like the right to have an abortion, the right to be left alone in one’s own home, and the right to be able to direct the upbringing of one’s children, amongst other rights. Despite the fact that these specific rights were nestled in the same broad right to privacy, their treatment has been far from similar in recent years in Florida.

This Note examines the evolution of Florida’s treatment of two of these specific rights—the right to have an abortion and the right to have a say in one’s child’s upbringing—and argues that recent trends in Florida’s laws showcase a narrowing of the former and an expansion of the latter. This Note further argues that this contrasting treatment is not because of some deeply rooted tradition and history. Rather, the disparate treatment is nothing more than a political move by those in power.

Recommended Citation

Emily Grady, Florida’s Privacy Paradox, 79 U. Mia. L. Rev. 228 (2024)
Available at: https://repository.law.miami.edu/umlr/vol79/iss1/7