[general_re]

It seems to me that if you want to assert a right to privacy or something else not specifically mentioned in the Bill of Rights, this is the Constitutionally correct branch from which to hang it.

The 9'th Amendment is a dead letter because it's a wish-list. How do you determine what is and isn't a right under the 9'th Amendment?

[dirtboy]

The 9'th Amendment is a dead letter because it's a wish-list. How do you determine what is and isn't a right under the 9'th Amendment?

If properly interpreted, you don't have to. The 9th simply tells the fedgov that, just because a right is not enumerated in the first eight amendments, that does not mean that the fedgov can therefore eliminate any or all other rights - because if the 9th is properly read with the 10th, that is the realm of the states or the people.

However, with the passage of the 14th amendment, trying to use the 9th generally creates a circular argument that did not exist prior to the 14th, and your point becomes more relevant.

[Lurking Libertarian]

The 9'th Amendment is a dead letter because it's a wish-list. How do you determine what is and isn't a right under the 9'th Amendment?

Justice Scalia has said exactly that-- he refuses to consider the 9th Amendment in any case because he has no basis, other than his own preferences, to decide which rights it protects. Chief Justice Burger once tried, in a concurring opinion, to list the rights he thought the 9th Amendment protects-- IIRC, he mentioned the right to travel from state to state, the right of a criminal defendant to be presumed innocent, and a few others.

[Twodees]

The 9'th Amendment is a dead letter because it's a wish-list.

That's an absurd statement. The 9th amendment isn't a list at all, let alone a "wish list". In fact, the 9th amendment very clearly states that no list need be made . Where on earth did you get such an odd notion, anyway?