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Week of 26 March 1999

Vol. II, No. 28

BU Yesterday

The commemoration last week at the BU School of Law of Massachusetts' Right to Privacy Day featured a talk by Bill Baird, who recalled his explosive appearance at BU 32 years ago. Baird had been invited by the editors of the BU News to speak to students about birth control, and on April 6, 1967, he lectured to a crowd of some 2,500 in Hayden Hall. At the time, contraceptives were available only to married couples older than 21. Some 45 minutes into his speech, Baird was arrested in front of the students and television crews by Boston vice squad officers and was later convicted and imprisoned for "crimes against chastity." Baird's conviction was overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court in the 1972 case Baird v. Eisenstadt. This BU News photo of Baird shortly before his arrest was taken by Peter Simon (COM'70), who also spoke at last week's event.