Cite as 349 Ark. 600 (2002)
without due process of law. Ark. Const. art. 2, §§ 8 and 21. This court has previously found the words "life, liberty and property" to be broad enough to protect the right of a prostitute to walk or ride on the streets with a male person over the age of 14 years. Coker v. City of Ft. Smith, 162 Ark. 567, 258 S.W. 388 (1924).
[21] Our constitution also recognizes the right of persons to be secure in the privacy of their own homes:
The right of the people of this State to be secure in their persons, houses, papers and effects against unreasonable searches and seizures shall not be violated; and no warrant shall issue except upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched and the person or thing to be seized.
Ark. Const. art. 2, § 15. This court has recognized a constitutional right of individuals to be free from unreasonable intrusions into their homes. See, e.g., Griffin v. State, 347 Ark. 788, 67 S.W.3d 582 (2002) (finding an illegal search in violation of Ark. Const. art. 2, § 15).
[22] The rights granted by our constitution are guaranteed to all citizens equally. Article 2, Section 3, provides: "The equality of all persons before the law is recognized, and shall ever remain inviolate; nor shall any citizen ever be deprived of any right, privilege or immunity, nor exempted from any burden or duty, on account of race, color or previous condition." Ark. Const. art. 2, § 3. "The General Assembly shall not grant to any citizen or class of citizens privileges or immunities which upon the same terms shall not equally belong to all citizens." Ark. Const. art. 2, § 18.
[23] In addition to the rights granted by our constitution, we must examine the development of a right to privacy in the statutes, rules, and case law of this state. Privacy is mentioned in more than eighty statutes enacted by the Arkansas General Assembly.[1] This frequent reference to the right to privacy indi-
- ↑ Some of the statutes referencing privacy are as follows: Ark. Code Ann. § 4-99-401, et seq. (Repl. 2001) (the "Arkansas Consumer Telephone Privacy Act"); Ark. Code Ann. § 5-71-213(a)(8) (Repl. 1997) (loitering illegal if "invading the privacy of another"); Ark. Code Ann. § 5-71-225(a)(2) (Repl. 1997) (regulations for long-term care to protect the privacy of the elderly); Ark. Code Ann. § 6-18-1204(3) (Repl. 1997) (Arkansas Student Publications Act prohibiting "[p]ublications that constitute an unwarranted invasion of privacy[.]"); Ark. Code Ann. § 7-5-310 (Repl. 2000) (privacy when voting); Ark. Code Ann. § 9-14-208(j) (2002) (Office of Child Support Enforcement exempting records subject to privacy safeguards from a business records classification); Ark. Code Ann. § 9-14210(g) - (1) (2002) (setting out Office of Child Support Enforcement privacy safeguards); Ark. Code Ann. § 9-27-309(h) (Repl. 2002) (protecting the privacy of juvenile records); Ark. Code Ann. § 12-12-205(2)(A) (Supp. 2001) (protecting the individual missing person's right to privacy); Ark. Code Ann. § 12-12-213 (Repl. 1999) (prohibiting invasion of privacy by the Arkansas Crime Information Center); Ark. Code Ann. § 12-51-301(e)(2) (Supp. 2001) (prohibiting the Interstate Commission for Adult Offender Supervision from disclosing any information or official records to the extent they would adversely affect personal privacy rights); Ark. Code Ann. § 14-14-110(b) (Repl. 1998) (prohibiting the release of personal, medical, or other records where the right to individual privacy exceeds the merits of public disclosure); Ark. Code Ann. § 16-43-1001(g) (Repl. 1999) (permitting a protective order for videotapes of closed-circuit testimony which are part of the court record for the purpose of protecting the privacy of the alleged victim); Ark. Code Ann. § 16-44-203(d) (Repl. 1999) (protecting the privacy of the alleged victim where videotapes are a part of the court record); Ark. Code Ann. § 20-7-302 (Repl. 2000) (requiring the Department of Health database to be maintained to protect confidentiality and privacy); Ark. Code Ann. § 20-10-1003(b)(13) (Repl. 2000) (mandating that the Office of Long-Term Care develop a "residents' bill of rights" protecting the residents' right to privacy); Ark. Code Ann. § 23-42-207(3) (Repl. 2000) (Records of the Securities Commissioner are all public, except those whose disclosure of which would constitute a clearly unwarranted invasion of personal privacy); Ark. Code Ann. § 23-48-808 (Repl. 2000) (requiring that customer-bank communication terminals have reasonable safeguards designed to protect the privacy and confidentiality of account information); Ark. Code Ann. § 25-19-105(b)(12) (Repl. 2002) (certain records exempted from release under Freedom of Information Act where their "disclosure would constitute a clearly unwarranted invasion of personal privacy").
