[tpaine]

Thane_Banquo
. The 10th amendment guarantees to the states and the people themselves all powers not granted to the federal government.
The Constitution does not give the power to the federal government to regulate in this area.
-TB-


Wrong. The 14th protects our rights to life, liberty, and property from violations by ANY level of government, fed/state/local.
1,071 -tpaine-


The 14th amendment does not define those rights, but references them to be part of the rights of individuals protected from federal government action by the other portions of the Constitution.
The Constitution does not state that one has a right to engage in homosexual sex.
-TB-


The issue is not 'defining' life/liberty/property. -- It is that fed/state/local governments cannot violate those self-evident rights. The 14th clearly makes that point, which you deny..

Why do you WANT government to have the power to prohibit individual freedoms? It makes no sense.

[MineralMan]

"The Constitution does not state that one has a right to engage in homosexual sex.
"

Nor does it state that one has a right to engage in heterosexual sex.

[Thane_Banquo]

I do not believe state legislatures should pass laws against private, consensual sex when no money is involved, but I also do not believe the federal courts have the Constitutional power to regulate in this area. Even though I agree with the ends, I disagree with the means.

If the 14th amendment is meant to protect a broad continuum of rights, then who defines these supposedly self-evident rights? The liberals have since FDR claimed people have the right to freedom from want, which they have used to justify state-sponsored plunder and redistribution.

I believe if any branch of government is to define what the 9th amendment means by other rights, it should be the voters themselves and their elected representatives, not unelected justices.

I trust the people more than some elite.