Baby Ninth Amendments Part V: Real Life, Potpourri, and the Big Picture
An example of a Baby Ninth in action, some miscellany, and what the story of Baby Ninths means for the U.S. Constitution itself.
An example of a Baby Ninth in action, some miscellany, and what the story of Baby Ninths means for the U.S. Constitution itself.
What have people said about the Baby Ninths since they were first adopted in 1819? Delegates thought they protected unenumerated rights. But judges have mostly failed to put them into action.
Like most things in law, unenumerated rights clauses took some time to emerge. But once they got going, they spread to all Four Corners of the country. [UPDATE: I inadvertently posted this under my name initially; but it's of course Anthony Sanders' post. -EV]
There are an infinite number of ways we can exercise our liberty but we can't list them all in a constitution. The solution? An "etcetera clause."