The Penumbra Problem
The Rise and Fall of the Little-Known Word That Protects Our Privacy
$54.39
- Hardcover
222 pages
- Release Date
19 January 2027
Summary
The U.S. Constitution is silent about a right to privacy, yet the Supreme Court determined in the 1965 reproductive rights case Griswold v. Connecticut, that such a right is inferred from the Bill of Rights. The reasoning in the landmark case hinged on an unexpected word – penumbra. The Court concluded, in other words, that the unmentioned right to privacy resides in the shadows of the amendments.
But this was not the first time penumbral imagery was used in legal wr…
Book Details
| ISBN-13: | 9781503644175 |
|---|---|
| ISBN-10: | 1503644170 |
| Author: | Jared Schroeder |
| Publisher: | Stanford University Press |
| Imprint: | Stanford University Press |
| Format: | Hardcover |
| Number of Pages: | 222 |
| Release Date: | 19 January 2027 |
| Dimensions: | 152mm x 229mm |
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Critics Review
“Jared Schroeder has taken one word from a Supreme Court opinion – penumbra – and written a beautiful, timely, and vital book about its role in shaping our constitutional right to privacy. With a historian’s attention to detail and razor-sharp legal analysis, Schroeder pushes back on attacks of the penumbra concept and explains why it matters now more than ever.“—Jeff Kosseff, author of The Twenty-Six Words That Created the Internet
“Jared Schroeder offers a deep dive into the under-explored constitutional concept of penumbra and its significant influence on how privacy rights have been interpreted in the United States. Along with providing historical, social, and legal context, this book delivers a set of promising solutions for how we might reclaim the concept and our claims to constitutional privacy.“—Jasmine McNealy, University of Florida
“In a thought-provoking and exhaustively researched exploration into the singular concept that underlies Americans’ right to privacy, Jared Schroeder makes a compelling argument that the historical provenance behind the Constitution’s penumbral protections has been ignored for far too long, including by the Supreme Court’s Originalists who seek to assail it.” —Amy Kristin Sanders, Penn State University
Jared Schroeder
Jared Schroeder is Professor and Lee Hills Endowed Chair in Free-Press Studies at the University of Missouri School of Journalism. He is the author of three books, most recently The Structure of Ideas (SUP, 2024). His journalism has been published by Overby Center, Nieman Reports, and Slate.
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