The 9th Amendment

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The context that gives rise to the 9th amendment is the inclusion of the bill of rights in the constitution. The anti-federalists were adamant that the bill of rights be included in the constitution because if it wasn’t, the central government would have too much power. The Federalists did not want a bill of rights because they felt that every liberty could not be written and it was best to trust the government to protect the people’s liberties. The bill of rights was a list of rights that James Madison created in 1791, that lists freedoms like the first amendment. The founding father took the federalists and anti-federalists views into account when creating the 9th amendment as it was a compromise. The bill of rights was included in the constitution but the 9th amendment was created which made both parties content as the anti-federalists got a list of specific rights the federal government can’t deny them while the federalists got reassurance that natural rights would be protected. This leads to the common interpretation of the law, which is that the fundamental rights that are not enumerated in the constitution are protected under this law. The 9th amendment safeguards against the narrowing of rights by the government by ensuring that the individual liberties that are fundamental to society are protected.

The 9th amendment is very clear and nobody argues about the fact that laws that are fundamental that are not enumerated are protected. Recent discussion has arisen because of the question, “Which rights are fundamental?” There are a couple of different views on what the 9th amendment is supposed to protect. In the literalist interpretation of justice, Samuel Alito, only the rights “deeply rooted in the Nation’s history and tradition.” Abortion, along with several other important liberties, does not fall under the 9th’s protection with this interpretation. The progressive view of the 9th amendment is that it includes “individual privacy and personal autonomy.” These differences in interpreting what law is fundamental has led to some of the most famous court cases as in Roe vs Wade, three justices said that the 9th amendment justified their decision to side with Roe as they interpreted the right to an abortion was protected by the 9th amendment? This wasn’t the first the 9th amendment had been utilized in the court of law as in Griswold vs Connecticut. The right to buy contraceptives while married was deemed as protected by the 9th amendment.

The 9th amendment correlates directly to the debate we had in class about whether to include the bill of rights in the constitution or leave it out. The inclusion of the bill of rights in the constitution was one of the main reasons the federalists and anti-federalist could not ratify the constitution. The 9th amendment solved that problem. The 9th amendment connects to the broader theme of the struggle between the power of the nation government and the people. The power struggle takes place throughout most all the constitution as the two main parties, the federalists and anti-federalists, compromised in the constitution’s drafting. Recently, I have leaned towards the progressive view of the 9th amendment as I view it as fundamental that laws that are necessary to society are protected. One change I would include in this amendment is the addition of laws that are deemed fundamental because it gives a starting point for future court cases that interpret if laws are fundamental and protected by the 9th amendment, or if they are not.

Roe V. Wade and Supreme Court Abortion Cases. Last modified September 28, 2022.

     Accessed May 30, 2023. https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/

     research-reports/roe-v-wade-and-supreme-court-abortion-cases.

 

 

 

 

 

 

   

 

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Tags: 9d, 9th, 9th-amendment, 9th-grade, amendment, bill-of-rights, carlos, carlos-rohm, constitution, rohm, the, the-9th-amendment