norml21 - Page 55
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literary status, wrote:
The makers of our Constitution undertook to
secure conditions favorable to the pursuit of
happiness. They recognized the significance
of man's spiritual nature, of his feelings
and of his intellect. They knew that only a
part of the paine pleasure and satisfaction
of life are to be found in material things.
They sought to protect Americans in their
beliefsl their thoughts, their emotions, and
their sensations. They conferred_ as against
the Governmentg the right to be let
alone--the most comprehensive of rights and
the right most valued by civilized man.
Olm_te d v. United States_ 277 UoSo 438: 478_ 72 Lo Ed. 944
1928).
The "right to be let alone '_ includes the privilege of an
individual to plan his own affairs, forj "o. °outside of areas of
la__ harmful conduct, every American is left to shape his own
life as he thinks best, do what he pleases, go where he pleases."
Kent v. Dulles, 357 UoSo 116, 126r 78 So Cto 1113, 2 L. Ed.2d
1204 (1958) (emphasis added)° To determine these rightsf
standards must be developedr and whether called privacy or
libertyr Brandeis _ '_right to be let alone" is probably the
functional equivalent of Mil!'s right to act as one will short of
harming others°
Mill was quick to point out, however, that his principle
applied only to adults of competent age and understanding:
It is_ perhaps, hardly necessary to say that
this doctrine is meant to apply only to human
beings in the maturity of their faculties°
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