[dixie sass]

Calvin Massey, in his book THE SILENT AMENDMENT says "The ninth amendment and the constitutions unenumerated rights, argues that it is now "impossible to achieve the amendments original function of limiting the implied powers of the federal government because of the modern expansion of federal powers." Massey also argues "that these unenumerated rights include both natural and positive rights protected in State Constitutions."


Last night in the discussion that followed, we could not separate the ninth and tenth, or at least it seemed that way to me.

[dixie sass]

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/716045/posts Nation: Is the Constitution Suspended?

[general_re]

Last night in the discussion that followed, we could not separate the ninth and tenth, or at least it seemed that way to me.

The problem is that if the scope of the Ninth Amendment is potentially radically expanded by the 14'th, the Tenth is radically curtailed by it. There are lots of powers the states no longer have by virtue of the 14'th Amendment, chief among them the fact that they no longer have (virtually) any powers that restrict an individual's rights under the Bill of Rights. Look at the body of 4'th, 5'th, and 6'th Amendment law over the last 70 years, and I think you'll find it hard to disagree that the powers of the states are significantly less in those areas than they were in the 19'th century...