How Much Progress Did Lawrence v. Texas Spur?
Fifty years from now, I expect scholars will be conducting a similar debate over gay rights. And instead of assessing Brown, scholars will be assessing the Supreme Court’s 2003 groundbreaking decision in Lawrence v. Texas. There, the Court, overruling its previous decision in Bowers v. Hardwick, recognized that the Constitution contains a right to define and act upon one’s sexual preferences free of state-sponsored discrimination. But no matter how powerful its moral message, or how laudable the Court’s decision, Lawrence – like any legal decision or set of legal decisions – has its limit: That limits is that it will not have a magical power to change hearts and minds. As a nation, we have developed the habit of looking to the Supreme Court as a leading expositor of moral and political virtue. Whether the issue is race, the death penalty, abortion, or religion in the public square, the nine Justices have become the keepers of the nation’s legal conscience. But if our experience with ra
