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Penumbra... 1. The partially shaded region around the shadow of an opaque body, where only a part of the light from the luminous body is cut off; the partial shadow, as distinguished from the total shadow or umbra; esp. that surrounding the total shadow of the moon, or of the earth, in an eclipse.... 4.... A partial shade or shadow (in various metaphorical applications), esp. regarded as bordering upon a fuller or darker one. 2

Since Justice Douglas's opinion for the Court in Griswold v. Connecticut, the source of the federal constitution's right to privacy has been fixed in the penumbras of the Bill of Rights. A penumbra seems a strange place to find rights to use contraception, to own obscene literature, or to have an abortion. Penumbra is an obscure word, known to few (and fewer still before Griswold). If the reader knows its meaning, it calls to mind shadows and darkness, unfortunate connotations for affirmative rights …