Griswold v. Connecticut

In Griswold v. Connecticut (381 U.S. 479 [1965]), the Supreme Court ruled unconstitutional a Connecticut law which made it a criminal offense for a doctor to counsel married couples about contraceptive methods. Justice Douglas, in delivering the majority opinion, recounted the progression of cases that granted persons protection against various types of governmental intrusions. He concluded: "The forgoing cases suggest that specific guarantees in the Bill of Rights have penumbras, formed by emanations from those guarantees that help give them life and substance ... Various guarantees create zones of privacy." (Griswold at 484 .)