Individual and Group Privacy [Hardcover]

Edward J. Bloustein (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 1, 1978 | ISBN-10: 0878552863 | ISBN-13: 978-0878552863

Edward J. Bloustein was the president of Rutgers University, and a distinguished scholar of the law. The four essays on privacy that comprise this book were completed over a thirteen-year period, and the development of the author's thinking parallels increasing thoughtful concern about privacy in the larger society. This development is especially appropriate to discussions of privacy and the "right to know" in the current era. The author analyzes individual and group privacy as legal concepts and examines the relationship of each to the legal right of the public to be informed about, and of a publisher to publish, private or confidential information.

In exploring a series of problems associated with privacy and the First Amendment, Bloustein defines individual and group privacy, distinguishing them from each other and related concepts. He also identifies the public interest in individual privacy as individual integrity or liberty, and that of group privacy as the integrity of social structure. The legal protection afforded each of these forms of privacy is illustrated at length, as is the clash between them and the constitutional guarantees of the First Amendment and the citizen's general right to know. In his final essay, Bloustein insists that the concept of group privacy is essential to a properly functioning social structure, and warns that it would be disastrous if this principle were neglected as part of an overreaction to the misuse of group confidences that characterized the Nixon era.

The new opening by Nathaniel Pallone provides a fresh context for evaluating the intellectual as well as organizational contribution of Bloustein.

"A notable contribution to the emerging law of privacy Bloustein has not only developed a unified theory of privacy but he has gone far to relate it to the First Amendment right to freedom of expression and to other features of our constitutional structure."-Thomas Emerson, Yale Law School

Edward J. Bloustein (1925-1989) was president of Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey from 1971 until his death in 1989, where he also served as professor of law and philosophy. Bloustein was also a professor of law at New York University.

Nathaniel J. Pallone, who served in the Bloustein administration, is University Distinguished Professor (Psychology), Center for Alcohol Studies, at Rutgers-The State University of New Jersey. He is the author of Criminal Behavior as well as a number of other books in the area of criminology, many of them published by Transaction.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"A notable contribution to the emerging law of privacy... Bloustein has not only developed a unified theory of privacy but he has gone far to relate it to the First Amendment right to freedom of expression and to other features of our constitutional structure."

—Thomas Emerson, Yale Law School  

--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

About the Author

Edward J. Bloustein (1925-1989) was president of Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey from 1971 until his death in 1989, where he also served as professor of law and philosophy. Bloustein was also a professor of law at New York University.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 100 pages
• Publisher: Transaction Publishers (January 1, 1978)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0878552863
• ISBN-13: 978-0878552863
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.1 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,216,437 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A thoughtful, college-level work examining privacy issues, March 8, 2003

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Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Individual and Group Privacy (Paperback)

Written by the late Edward J. Bloustein (1925-1989), the former president of Rutgers University and a noteworthy legal scholar, Individual & Group Privacy is an informed and informative collection of four in-depth essays on the legal definition of privacy, and the author's thoughts about balancing individual needs against the increasing pressure of the "right to know" line of reasoning that is so prevalent in the modern era. A thoughtful, college-level work examining privacy issues from humanitarian, practical, and ethical perspectives, Individual & Group Privacy cogently addresses key and fundamental privacy issues and First Amendment concerns that are as current as today's newspaper headlines and the rise of the new "Homeland Security" measures arising from America's war on domestic and national terrorism.