County of Riverside v. McLaughlin

The story is told of the elderly judge who, looking back over a long career, observes with satisfaction that “when I was young, I probably let stand some convictions that should have beén overturned, and when I was old, I probably set aside some that should have stood; so overall, justice was *60done.” I sometimes think that is an appropriate analog to this Court’s constitutional jurisprudence, which alternately creates rights that the Constitution does not contain and denies rights that it does. Compare Roe v. Wade, 410 U. S. 113 (1973) (right to abortion does exist), with Maryland v. Craig,…