marital privacy doctrine
marital-privacy doctrine. A principle that limits governmental intrusion into private family matters, such as those involving sexual relations between married persons. • The marital-privacy doctrine was first recognized in Griswold v. Connecticut, 381 U.S. 479, 85 S.Ct. 1678 (1965). The doctrine formerly deterred state intervention into matters involving domestic violence. Today, with the trend toward individual privacy rights, the doctrine does not discourage governmental protection from domestic violence. — Also termed doctrine of marital privacy.
