The Ninth Amendment reads:
The enumeration in the Constitution of certain rights shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.
This amendment was skillfully worded to avoid any misunderstanding about the Bill of Rights, because under the law, when you have an itemized list in a legal document, and do not include everything else, it is presumed that you intended to leave out or waive what was not included in the list. Therefore, you legally forfeit the ones you did not include in the list. This amendment was a clear-cut disclaimer of any such interpretation; that is, the people did not intend to exclude anything that was not mentioned in the Bill of Rights. There is no implied or inherent waiver of the rights not mentioned or listed therein.
Wednesday, February 15, 2012
Tuesday, February 14, 2012
Tenth Amendment
Many people believe either Congress, the President, or the Supreme Court can do anything they please if there is no specific restriction mentioned in the Constitution on the particular issue in question. That is a false assumption. Anything the Constitution does not specify or clearly imply is an automatic restriction against the federal government, because the constitutional authority doesn't exist if it is not specifically granted by the Constitution.
Opponents of this view refer to the Article I, Section 8, Clause 18, which authorizes Congress:
To make all laws which shall be necessary and proper for caring into execution the foregoing powers, and all powers vested by this Constitution in the government of the United States or in any department or officer thereof.
They contend that the "necessary and proper" clause gives Congress virtually an unlimited power to make any law that legislative body deems necessary and proper, regardless of anything else. This is typical of how statements are taken out of context [like the General Welfare Clause] to justify a position that flies in the face of the whole spirit and original intent of the Constitution. Congress only had the implied authority to carry out the designated "foregoing" powers, specifically enumerated in Article I, Section 8. They could not otherwise adopt any laws that would effectively amend the Constitution. Article V of the Constitution makes it clear that that power was "reserved to the states" [Tenth Amendment].
Opponents of this view refer to the Article I, Section 8, Clause 18, which authorizes Congress:
To make all laws which shall be necessary and proper for caring into execution the foregoing powers, and all powers vested by this Constitution in the government of the United States or in any department or officer thereof.
They contend that the "necessary and proper" clause gives Congress virtually an unlimited power to make any law that legislative body deems necessary and proper, regardless of anything else. This is typical of how statements are taken out of context [like the General Welfare Clause] to justify a position that flies in the face of the whole spirit and original intent of the Constitution. Congress only had the implied authority to carry out the designated "foregoing" powers, specifically enumerated in Article I, Section 8. They could not otherwise adopt any laws that would effectively amend the Constitution. Article V of the Constitution makes it clear that that power was "reserved to the states" [Tenth Amendment].
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