Assignment task:
After the Supreme Court's decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Org., several states not only banned abortion but also have sought to limit other rights the Supreme Court previously recognized based on the Due Process Clause. These states maintain that prior Supreme Court decisions such as Griswold v. Connecticut (right to contraception), Lawrence v. Texas (right of individuals to engage in intimate sexual relations with a person of the same sex), and Obergefell v. Hodges (right to same-sex marriage), should be overruled based on the reasoning in Dobbs.
For example, the State of Tarkonia has enacted a new law that includes the following provisions:
1) All purchase and/or sale of contraception or contraceptive devices, except between married couples, is henceforth prohibited.
2) All intimate sexual relations between individuals of the same sex is henceforth prohibited.
3) Only marriages between a man and a woman will be performed in and recognized as a valid by the State of Tarkonia.
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) has brought a constitutional challenge to this new law. The ACLU argues that Dobbs does not justify overruling these other prior precedents. In defending the law, Tarkonia argues that the rights recognized in decisions like Griswold, Lawrence, and Obergefell are no longer valid after Dobbs because they are not specifically mentioned in the text of the Constitution.
You are the law clerk to the federal district judge in Tarkonia who is hearing the ACLU's federal constitutional challenge to this new law The judge tasks you with writing a memorandum advising the judge how the judge should rule in the case. In your memorandum, the judge asks you to address arguments on both sides as well as provide your conclusions and the reasons for it.