John Geddes Lawrence, Plaintiff In Landmark U.S. Supreme Court Case Overturning Sodomy Laws, Dead At 68

John Geddes Lawrence, the defendant in the landmark United States Supreme Court case that declared sodomy laws unconstitutional across the country, died on November 20. He was 68. Lawrence was born in Beaumont, Texas, on August 2, 1943, served in the U.S. Navy for four years and worked as a medical technologist in Texas hospitals until his retirement in 2009. In the facts underlying the Supreme Court case, Lawrence v. Texas, Lawrence and Tyron Garner were arrested under Texas's Homosexual Conduct Law after police entered Lawrence's home on September 17, 1998, and saw them "engaging in a sexual act." The couple challenged the law as unconstitutional, Lambda Legal backed their challenge, and the couple fought it up to the U.S. Supreme Court. Jenner & Block partner Paul Smith then argued the case for Lawrence and Garner on March 26, 2003. Three months later on June 26, 2003, Justice Anthony Kennedy wrote the court's opinion, holding, "At the heart of liberty is the right to define one's own concept of existence, of meaning, of the universe, and of the mystery of human life. ... Persons in a homosexual relationship may seek autonomy for these purposes, just as heterosexual persons do." At the time, Lambda Legal executive director Kevin Cathcart said, "Because Tyron Garner and John Lawrence had the courage to challenge homophobic sodomy laws, the U.S. Supreme Court recognized that love, sexuality, and family play the same role in gay people's lives as they do for everyone else. That's a colossal legacy and one for which his community will forever be thankful." In concluding the court case, Kennedy wrote an expansive defense of an evolving understanding of rights, later used in Massachusetts and elsewhere by courts holding that same-sex couples have a constitutional basis for equal marriage rights. "Had those who drew and ratified the Due Process Clauses of the Fifth Amendment or the Fourteenth Amendment known the components of liberty in its manifold possibilities, they might have been more specific. They did not presume to have this insight," Kennedy held. "They knew times can blind us to certain truths and later generations can see that laws once thought necessary and proper in fact serve only to oppress. As the Constitution endures, persons in every generation can invoke its principles in their own search for greater freedom."According to Lawrence's obituary, John is survived by his dearest friend and partner, Jose Garcia, who was a faithful caregiver to John during his last days." Funeral services were held on November 23. Garner had died earlier, on September 11, 2006.