Do You Really Know Your Rights?

Dear Readers: I just finished reading a fascinating book that contains a wealth of information about ordinary, everyday citizens and what they should know about the law and their rights.

We now live in a society where, because of sophisticated electronic devices and the easy flow of information, our personal business can suddenly become everybody’s business.

Can you refuse to allow a police officer to look through your luggage? Is there anything you can do to prevent all those computerized data banks from filling up with more personal information about you? Can TV reporters come into your home and ask you questions on camera about an incident they are covering? Does your boss have the right to know that you are homosexual? Who is entitled to make life-or-death decisions for someone who is no longer competent to do so?

The book I refer to answers those questions and many more. For example:

Does a law enforcement officer have the power to come into your home and look for drugs?

Does anyone have the right to demand from a physician’s office or a laboratory the results of your AIDS test?

Can the police strip-search a woman who has been arrested for a traffic violation?

Should states be permitted to ban assisted suicide?

Should an employer be allowed to read an employee’s e-mail?

Is it OK for a newspaper to print your photo without your knowledge?

Does a birth mother have the right to track down a child she abandoned in infancy and re-enter that child’s life?

What chain of events led to legislation concerning homosexual conduct when Georgia police invaded the bedroom of a homosexual male?

The book cites some interesting cases, such as one about two people employed at Wal-Mart in Johnstown, N.Y. The man was separated from his wife, and the woman was single. They both were fired for “fraternizing.”

What about the part-time police officer in Muskegon, Mich., who was separated from his wife and moved in with another woman? When he informed the police chief of his new living arrangement, he was suspended and then fired. He sued the police department for intruding on his constitutional rights of privacy. The district court agreed that he was right and affirmed the fact that his off-duty living arrangements did not impact his job performance.

A South Carolina newspaper published a story on teenage pregnancies. A sidebar article identified by name a young boy as the father of an illegitimate child. The teenage father sued for invasion of privacy. A jury awarded him $1,500 in actual damages and $25,000 in punitive damages.

A South Carolina appeals court upheld the verdict.

The one that irritated me most involved an engaged couple who were spied on through a peephole in their bedroom door. This occurred in an inn near Iowa City.

These fascinating cases and many more can be found in the book, “The Right to Privacy,” by Ellen Alderman and Caroline Kennedy. It is eye-opening and educational. The publisher is Knopf. The price is $26.95