The "Silent" Ninth Amendment Gives Americans Rights They Don't Know They Have

The "Silent" Ninth Amendment Gives Americans Rights They Don't Know They Have

www.alternet.org

Everyone knows about the First Amendment right of free speech and the Fifth Amendment right to avoid self-incrimination. Even the once-forgotten Second Amendment, with its "right to bear arms," has reemerged in public debate. But few people know about the Ninth Amendment, which reaffirms in broad terms rights "retained by the people." Indeed, the Ninth flies so far under the radar that it has rarely been mentioned even by the Supreme Court.

What a pity. Even more, what a terrible oversight: the Ninth Amendment bears directly on such modern-day constitutional issues as abortion, the right to die, and gay rights.

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This article is a little long but it is well worth the tme it takes to read. This amendment will be, like all the others, interpreted based on the views of those doing the interpreting. I just hope that if this starts showing up in litigation, it will be used in a way that our founding fathers meant when they wrote it.

www.alternet.org
(visit the link for the full news article)

The 9th is whipped out by Libertarians all the time.

The trouble is that everyone thinks their way of living is best so you end up with huge groups pushing and clamoring to get things banned all the time. True liberty is a concept that is all but dead and buried with most Americans. They think the government 'allows' us to live a certain way. Its the complete opposite of the reality that we allow the government to exist and all freedom is naturally given by our creator. It just kills me how hard some will fight to demand government restrict freedom. This may sound tasteless but we're like Aficans who are trying to jump on the ships. We dont even need anyone to round us up. No chains needed here.

This applies pretty easilly and directly to gay marriage, drugs, guns, etc.. but even the 9th gets a little touchy with abortion. After all its "LIFE", liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Abortion would sort of nullify that whole right to life thing. Same goes for capital punishment. Life imprisonment with hard as hell labor would pass but the death penalty contradicts.

Some issues just dont have simple fixes.

[edit] The presence of the 2nd Amendment along with the 9th should reaffirm the more than absolute right to bear arms our founders believed in. I (heart) guns.[/edit]

[edit on 24-4-2007 by thisguyrighthere]