“The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.”
You will often hear people claim that the Ninth Amendment “gives us all of the rights that aren’t listed in the Bill of Rights.” But that is not the correct way to read the amendment. The Ninth Amendment reads: “The enumeration in the...
Excerpted from a brief of Prof. Lash as Amicus Curiae in support of petitioners in Dobbs v Jackson Women’s Health Organization The Ninth Amendment guarantees the right of local self-government in all matters not expressly prohibited to the states or clearly...
The founding generation created a political system that carefully divided powers and that was designed to ensure the general government remained limited in its scope and power. That system has all but vanished, but two oft-ignored and misunderstood provisions in the...
by Steve Palmer Introduction Most discussions of the Tenth Amendment center around using the state legislature to enforce it when the Supreme Court fails to do so. In that situation, the state legislature declares a law null and void within the state’s...
The Ninth Amendment states, The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.” It was designed to work with the Tenth Amendment to reinforce limits on the federal government. The...