The enumeration in the Constitution of certain rights shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.
—United States Constitution, Ninth Amendment—
Significantly, the Ninth Amendment has been called the “neglected” and “forgotten” amendment.
Let’s give one article that calls it “neglected” a close look.
In an article appearing in 2006 on the website of The Rutherford Institute, a legal ministry with a long history of fighting for religious liberty, Robert F. “Bob” McDonnell1 calls the Ninth Amendment a “Neglected Check to Federal Power.”
McDonnell says the Ninth Amendment
reads very much like a recently discovered, long lost classic by a famous author. When one reads it, the initial reaction usually falls within the range of “I didn’t know that was there.”
That reaction is no doubt the result of the amendment’s being rendered virtually useless after years of encroachment by the federal government and the ever-fading concept of federalism. The history of the Ninth Amendment, however, shows how critical it was to our Founders and how necessary it was to secure the ratification of our Constitution.
McDonnell then traces its history, and I would encourage you to read his account as you have opportunity. Significantly, it includes this statement: “The Ninth Amendment is the only amendment that solely concerns constitutional interpretation.” Also, his concluding paragraph is worth gold:
“The Ninth Amendment – almost more than any other – belongs to the people. Its promise and potential can yet be fulfilled.”
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Copyright © 2020 by B. Nathaniel Sullivan. All rights reserved.
Note:
1While years later, McDonnell, who served as the 71st Governor of Virginia, would face legal trouble, including being convicted of a felony that later would be overturned unanimously by the US Supreme Court, his comments about the Ninth Amendment have absolutely nothing to do with those issues. In fact, his observations are most insightful.