What is Lawrence v. Texas?
{{Infobox SCOTUS case | Litigants = John Geddes Lawrence and Tyron Garner v. Texas | ArgueDate = March 26 | ArgueYear = 2003 | DecideDate = June 26 | DecideYear = 2003 | FullName = Lawrence et al. v. Texas | USVol = 539 | USPage = 558 | ParallelCitations = | Docket = 02-102 | OralArgument = https://www.oyez.org/cases/2002/02-102 | OralReargument = | OpinionAnnouncement = https://www.oyez.org/cases/2002/02-102 | Prior = | Subsequent = | Holding = A Texas statute banning homosexual intercourse violated the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. | SCOTUS = 1994-2005 | Majority = Anthony M. Kennedy | JoinMajority = Ruth Bader Ginsberg, John Paul Stevens, David Souter, Stephen Breyer | Concurrence = Sandra Day O'Connor | JoinConcurrence = | Concurrence2 = | JoinConcurrence2 = | Concurrence/Dissent = | JoinConcurrence/Dissent = | Dissent = Clarence Thomas | JoinDissent = William H. Rehnquist | Dissent2 = Antonin Scalia | JoinDissent2 = | LawsApplied = 41 S. W. 3d 349, reversed and remanded }} '''''Lawrence v. Texas''''', 539 US 558 (2003), is the primary piece of [[case law]] which ultimately decriminalized [[sodomy]] in the [[United States]]. Ruled upon by the [[Supreme Court of the United States|United States Supreme Court]] in 2003, ''Lawrence v. Texas'' concerned a [[Texas]] law that criminalized consensual, adult homosexual intercourse which was found unconstitutional under the [[Due process|Due Process]] clause of the [[Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution|Fourteenth Amendment]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/539/558/|title=Lawrence v. Texas, 539 U.S. 558 (2003)|website=Justia Law|language=en|access-date=2020-01-10}}</ref> == Background of the case == [[Houston]] Police were tipped off to a weapons disturbance purportedly from the residence of John Lawrence. Upon entering the apartment, police found Lawrence and Tyron Garner engaging in [[sexual intercourse]].<ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2002/12/16/unnatural-law|title=Unn