[jwalsh07]

Either the 9th Amendment is read to mean essentially the same thing as the 10th--making it superfluous--or it is clearly stating that the Constitution is not to be read strictly within the "four corners."

The Ninth Amendment was a constraint on the federal government , not a license for the federal courts, the third branch of the federal government, to make laws.

Or as Judge Bork once said, the Ninth Amendment is "...no more interpretable than a waterblot on the Constitution."

[Viva Le Dissention]

The Ninth Amendment was a constraint on the federal government , not a license for the federal courts, the third branch of the federal government, to make laws.

You're arguing my first point--that the 9th Amendment is essentially the same as the 10th. I find it very difficult to believe the Founders would include a superfluous amendment, so I don't buy that explanation.

[WOSG]

"The Ninth Amendment was a constraint on the federal government , not a license for the federal courts, the third branch of the federal government, to make laws."

That is a good way to say it.