Howard Ball is Emeritus Professor of Political Science and University Scholar at the University of Vermont and Adjunct Professor of Law at Vermont Law School.

"In this truly fascinating and spellbinding work, Ball tells many tales." (Choice) "A wonderful book dealing with personal issues each of us as individuals may face. Well-written and absorbing reading with numerous case studies that rely on materials and insider accounts from the private papers of the justices, this is a book for the general public and specialists alike to savor." - Sheldon Goldman,University of Massachusetts, Amherst "...A thorough summary of the trajectory of current case law on the legal regulation of U.S. citizens' intimate lives. . . . A valuable introduction to increasingly important and salient legal questions about the constitutional limits on the state's ability to shape intimate lives in the United States." (Political Science Quarterly) "Despite the controversial content of many of the cases, Mr. Ball maintains an air of bemused detachment and does not openly take sides. This is not a polemic. With few exceptions, the prevailing tone is light and scholarly. The goal is to illuminate, not to persuade." (New York Law Journal) "...A worthy assessment of the law of intimate association and personal decision-making. For those intrigued by the Court's human side, Ball provides a sufficient glimpse without raising the curtain on its realm of privacy that the justices have strived to protect." (Trial)

• 1 "Fundamental" Rights versus State Interests: The Balancing Process 2 Marriage and Marital Privacy 3 The "Rhapsody of the Unitary Family" 4 Motherhood or Not, That Is Her Decision 5 Raising the Child: "Father Knows Best"? 6 "Let Me Go!": Death in the Family 7 Family and Personal Privacy in the Twenty-First Century

Howard Ball is Emeritus Professor of Political Science and University Scholar at the University of Vermont and Adjunct Professor of Law at Vermont Law School.

"In this truly fascinating and spellbinding work, Ball tells many tales." (Choice) "A wonderful book dealing with personal issues each of us as individuals may face. Well-written and absorbing reading with numerous case studies that rely on materials and insider accounts from the private papers of the justices, this is a book for the general public and specialists alike to savor." - Sheldon Goldman,University of Massachusetts, Amherst "...A thorough summary of the trajectory of current case law on the legal regulation of U.S. citizens' intimate lives. . . . A valuable introduction to increasingly important and salient legal questions about the constitutional limits on the state's ability to shape intimate lives in the United States." (Political Science Quarterly) "Despite the controversial content of many of the cases, Mr. Ball maintains an air of bemused detachment and does not openly take sides. This is not a polemic. With few exceptions, the prevailing tone is light and scholarly. The goal is to illuminate, not to persuade." (New York Law Journal) "...A worthy assessment of the law of intimate association and personal decision-making. For those intrigued by the Court's human side, Ball provides a sufficient glimpse without raising the curtain on its realm of privacy that the justices have strived to protect." (Trial)

• 1 "Fundamental" Rights versus State Interests: The Balancing Process 2 Marriage and Marital Privacy 3 The "Rhapsody of the Unitary Family" 4 Motherhood or Not, That Is Her Decision 5 Raising the Child: "Father Knows Best"? 6 "Let Me Go!": Death in the Family 7 Family and Personal Privacy in the Twenty-First Century

Howard Ball is Emeritus Professor of Political Science and University Scholar at the University of Vermont and Adjunct Professor of Law at Vermont Law School.

"In this truly fascinating and spellbinding work, Ball tells many tales." (Choice) "A wonderful book dealing with personal issues each of us as individuals may face. Well-written and absorbing reading with numerous case studies that rely on materials and insider accounts from the private papers of the justices, this is a book for the general public and specialists alike to savor." - Sheldon Goldman,University of Massachusetts, Amherst "...A thorough summary of the trajectory of current case law on the legal regulation of U.S. citizens' intimate lives. . . . A valuable introduction to increasingly important and salient legal questions about the constitutional limits on the state's ability to shape intimate lives in the United States." (Political Science Quarterly) "Despite the controversial content of many of the cases, Mr. Ball maintains an air of bemused detachment and does not openly take sides. This is not a polemic. With few exceptions, the prevailing tone is light and scholarly. The goal is to illuminate, not to persuade." (New York Law Journal) "...A worthy assessment of the law of intimate association and personal decision-making. For those intrigued by the Court's human side, Ball provides a sufficient glimpse without raising the curtain on its realm of privacy that the justices have strived to protect." (Trial)

• 1 "Fundamental" Rights versus State Interests: The Balancing Process 2 Marriage and Marital Privacy 3 The "Rhapsody of the Unitary Family" 4 Motherhood or Not, That Is Her Decision 5 Raising the Child: "Father Knows Best"? 6 "Let Me Go!": Death in the Family 7 Family and Personal Privacy in the Twenty-First Century