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To: Phlyer
As a literalist, what then is the meaning of the Ninth Amendment?
27 posted on 11/27/2009 8:10:50 AM PST by Jacquerie (Support and defend our Beloved Constitution.)
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To: Jacquerie
As a literalist, what then is the meaning of the Ninth Amendment?

Before I get to the 9th Amendment specifically, your question deserves a bit of context. As I indicated in my previous post, if there are multiple 'rules' that apply to a situation, then the correct solution is one that meets all the rules, not just selected ones that justify what you want. As a result, the 9th Amendment must be understood in the context of the other Amendments. To that end, I see the 9th and 10th Amendments as a pair of rules that must be addressed together.

So, the 9th says, "The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people."

And the 10th says, "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."

I think the literal interpretation of those says, There are rights for 'the people' which are not enumerated, and the power to exercise and enforce those rights - since it is not explicitly delegated to the United States (Federal Government) nor prohibited to the States - is reserved to the States or to the people.

The short form of that is, "Any right not explicitly addressed in the Constitution is none of the federal government's business."

I do see room for interpretation in the Constitution, but at the level of an honest interpretation of the words as literally as practical. The "press" as it was recognized at the time of ratification did not include electronic media, but I am very comfortable with the idea that the freedom of the "press" outlined in the 1st Amendment applies to electronic media. Similarly, there is an implied right to vote when qualifications for voting are outlined.

Underlying my interpretation is the principle that the most important words in the Constitution are "We, the People." It doesn't start as "We, the Lawyers and Judges," or "We, the landed gentry of Virginia." It is our contract with ourselves, to be administered by the federal government. Each citizen has a "right," a "privilege and immunity" to believe that if he reads that contract, he can expect it to be applied as the written words would be understood in simple English by the average literate citizen. There is no room for judge-made law to supersede the plain language of the Constitution, especially through 'shadows' and 'penumbra'.

The key to the 9th is to establish that there are things that are outside the scope of the Constitution, and the key to the 10th is to say that anything not explicitly in the Constitution is none of the federal government's business.
28 posted on 11/27/2009 10:49:34 AM PST by Phlyer
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