[mariviw]

I really don’t understand the original intent of the ninth amendment. What exactly was it intended to protect?

[gutzmank]

In the Philadelphia Convention and after, some people said there ought to be a federal bill of rights. Others responded that this was a bad idea, because one couldn’t include all of the rights in an enumeration, and any right that wasn’t included in the list would be excluded from the category of rights that the Federal Government had to respect. Congress’s answer to this concern was the Ninth Amendment.

[mariviw]

Yes but what I’m trying to get at is what is a violation of the ninth amendment? For example, passing a law restricting speech is a violation of the first amendment. Passing ealthcare reform is a violation of the tenth amendment. What is an example of congress violating the ninth amendment?

[maester_miller]

I’m not sure the ninth amendment is one that would be specifically violated, but rather it is there for informative purposes.

Take, for example, any case that hinges on the “right to privacy,” say, abortion for example. The purpose of the ninth amendment is to clarify simply that the fact that “right to privacy” does not appear in the constitution does not mean that it is not a right, and that your privacy can be violated by the government willy-nilly.

[gutzmank]

Except of course that there was in the late 18th century no such thing as a generalized “right to privacy” (nor is there now).

[sheyboer]

Your 9th Amendment rights are violated when the government violates any right you have that is not listed. In order to know when your 9th Amendment rights are violated one needs to know what rights are. I would argue rights are the acceptable actions of an individual that do not infringe upon the equal rights of others. In other words, there can be no right to something that would require the violation of another’s rights. Our 9th Amendment rights are violated often.

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