Rating: 
Summary: Thoughtful, Cogent, & Wonderful Overview of Right To Privacy
Review: Today, when voyeurs, marketers, and the curious are invading so many aspects of what has traditionally been considered the individual's inviolate personal domain, this book is a God-send in helping us understand what it is we have with the right to privacy, and also in helping us to focus on what is so much at risk. While the word "privacy" appears nowhere in our Constitution, a majority of Americans fervently believe that their right to privacy is a key element which is central to the way they live their public and personal lives, and that it is also key to the viability of the democratic system. Given the fact that it is a somewhat abstract, ambiguous, and difficult idea to define, privacy is indeed seen as being a critical and irreplaceable basic right of individuals. In this wonderful, eminently accessible, and very readable book, Ellen Alderman and Caroline Kennedy, produce a gem of a work that offers a thoughtful, absorbing, and provocative overview of what the generally perceived (although not specifically Constitutionally defined) right to privacy means for us as citizens and individuals. Using a well-integrated series of landmark cases, trial decisions, and an entertaining plethora of anecdotal situations, the authors render this abstract, complicated, and critically important legal right much more understandable and comprehensible. As with their earlier book, "In Our Defense", Alderman and Kennedy transform the arcane legal language of various laws, regulations, and court decisions into relevant and compelling arguments that help the reader understand just how central to our basic liberties the right to privacy is. The book examines six general areas of tension and concern regarding the right to privacy; privacy versus law enforcement, privacy and your self, privacy versus the press, privacy versus the voyeur, privacy in the workplace, and privacy versus information. In examining each of these issues, the authors engage what the right to privacy means in practical terms. For example, can one refuse to comply if a police officer asks permission to look through one's luggage? Does your employer have a right to know your sexual orientation? Can the electronic media invade your home in pursuit of a hot story? In each of these cases, they also show how the rights to privacy must be seen and understood in the context of other public and individual rights and prerogatives. In all this cogent and compelling narrative, one hear the consistent voice of caution and reason, for the authors are mindful of the fact that we live in a society in which our individual rights as citizens and individuals are under continuing assault, and are very much under threat from other competing needs and concerns. This is an extremely thoughtful, straightforward, and an eminently compelling argument on behalf of public education and enlightened self-interest. This is a wonderful book, and one I highly recommend. Enjoy.
Rating:
Summary: A GENUINE CONTRIBUTION TO CIVIL RIGHTS
Review: Well-researched & written, this fine book is clear enough for high school students, which makes it a good book for grownups, too. Section by section, Alderman & Kennedy examine the really difficult cases & issues regarding our right to privacy, including many that were settled in ways that pleased practically no one. If you are curious about what really concerns this very private younger Kennedy, read "The Right to Privacy" or the earlier Alderman & Kennedy book on the Bill of Rights. Both are terrific.
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