Constitutional Amendments – Amendment 9 – “Enumerated Rights of the People” (2024)

FAQs

What is the 9th Amendment short answer? ›

What does the 9th amendment mean in simple terms? The 9th Amendment means that the rights of citizens will be protected whether these rights are listed or not. It also leaves what rights are not listed as an opportunity for interpretation.

The original text is written as such: “The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.” The origin of the “enumerated rights” concept traces back to the debates surrounding the Constitution's ratification.

The Ninth Amendment clearly rebutted the possible presumption that enumeration of some rights precluded the recognition of others. By its terms, it provides that the enumeration of specific rights should not be “construed to deny or disparage” other rights.

The Ninth Amendment provides that the enumeration of certain rights in the Constitution should not be construed to mean that the Constitution does not protect rights that are not enumerated.

The Ninth Amendment is a constitutional safety net intended to make clear that individuals have other fundamental rights, in addition to those listed in the First through Eighth Amendments.

The 9th Amendment was written by James Madison and was voted on as part of the Bill of Rights in 1791. Overall, the 9th Amendment states that the government cannot take away rights of the American people that are not specifically listed in the U. S. Constitution.

These included: to lay and collect taxes; pay debts and borrow money; regulate commerce; coin money; establish post offices; protect patents and copyrights; establish lower courts; declare war; and raise and support an Army and Navy.

Thus the Ninth Amendment makes it clear that the rights enumerated in our founding documents are not the only rights we have, while the Tenth Amend- ment makes it equally clear that the powers delegated to the federal govern- ment are its only powers.

Rights that are specifically mentioned are enumerated rights, but other rights not specifically mentioned but which are considered fundamental to the operation of the nation and liberties enjoyed by the people are also protected. These are known as implied or unenumerated rights.

Controversies over the Ninth Amendment stem mainly from whether the Amendment has the power to grant previously unmentioned rights as the Court discovers them.

Is the 9th Amendment still relevant today? ›

The 9th Amendment is immensely important. It makes it clear that the rights set out in the Bill of Rights are not exhaustive or final. That means that courts are free to recognize other human rights that the founders didn't think of at the time.

The Ninth Amendment has generally been regarded by the courts as negating any expansion of governmental power on account of the enumeration of rights in the Constitution, but the Amendment has not been regarded as further limiting governmental power.

No Person shall be convicted of Treason unless on the Testimony of two Witnesses to the same overt Act, or on Confession in open Court.

Final answer: The remaining rights of US citizens are primarily determined and protected by the U.S. Constitution, with additional rights emerging from Congressional legislation, Presidential influence, and Federal court decisions.

“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.”

Amendment Ten to the Constitution was ratified on December 15, 1791. It makes clear that any powers that are not specifically given to the federal government, nor withheld from the states, are reserved to those respective states, or to the people at large.

Which is a main idea in the Ninth Amendment? Privacy rights must be respected, unless forbidden by the state law.

The 10th Amendment says that any power or right not specifically listed in the Constitution as belonging to the federal government belongs to individual states or the American people themselves.