Flagrant Conduct: The Story of Lawrence v. Texas How a Bedroom Arrest Decriminalized Gay Americans

Dale Carpenter, J.D., the Earl R. Larson Professor of Civil Rights and Civil Liberties Law, University of Minnesota Law School

Host: David Inge

In 1998, two Houston men were arrested and charged with having sex…a violation of Texas law. Gay rights activists took up the case and when it was all over…the US Supreme Court had overturned the law…and similar laws in twelve other states.  That is the standard story of Lawrence v. Texas but there is much more to the story than that. Our guest will be Dale Carpenter professor of law at the University of Minnesota and author of Flagrant Conduct. The book presents some surprising features of the case including the willingness of the two men charged to admit to something they didn’t do in order to challenge an unjust law.

This is a repeat broadcast from Wednesday, May 23, 2012, 10 am