Grand Opening

09/03/09 by admin.

The country has forgotten about the Ninth and Tenth Amendments to the Constitution for a very long time. Lawyers love to talk about the rest of the Bill of Rights, but rarely seem to care about the last two. Free speech is a most important right to be sure. Religious freedom is often argued from the sides of allowing expression and removing Government acknowledgment. Freedom of the press is currently embattled with the current administration looking to ideas of re-institution of the fairness doctrine and nearly daily press briefings. The right to keep and bear arms is an ongoing debate. OK, the quartering soldiers in private homes during times of peace (and war for that matter) has not really been an issue. On the other hand, searches and seizures, as covered by the Fourth Amendment, could not be more interesting to at least attorneys. Everyone knows about the right to not provide witness against himself (you have the right to remain silent, you have the right to …). Some of the other right enumerated in the Fifth Amendment would also be not too difficult to remember and lawyers know and argue about them all the time. The right to be represented by an attorney is an integral part of the Sixth Amendment. The Seventh pertains to civil cases and is more of a practical set of rules that are followed when those types of cases are brought to Federal court. Cruel and unusual punishment is forbidden as it should be by the Eighth. The Fourteenth Amendment allows for incorporation of these limitation on government to the states. Originally the Bill of Rights was only a limitation on the Federal Government. States could largely disregard these limitations and institute an official religion or whatever else they wanted, so long as their state constitution allowed it. Some limitations did apply though. A republican form of governance was at the top of the list. This allowed the people to closely hold politicians accountable for their actions. We have the very few limitations on the states via the Tenth Amendment. The Constitution in Article IV sets certain minimal standards for states wishing to join the union. The Tenth Amendment is easy to understand and is in fact quite short. It reads, in its entirety; The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.The Ninth is not much different; The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people. Yes, we are very aware of the commerce clause in section 8 of article I. This blog is largely about how that clause has been interpreted to reach virtually every aspect of people’s daily life. As we examine the news from regular media and courts, special attention will be paid to how the Bill of Rights sets limits on Government, not methods of persecution.

We are not radical Libertarians that believe in anarchy on a federal level. We live in modern political reality. We do believe in satire as much as hardcore rationality. This discussion is not limited to any particular area of life. Criminal law, politics, education, health care, drugs, torture, or any other item we see fit is fair game. Whenever we see abuses of governmental powers, we will be here writing about it.

AX

Posted in Amendment X | Print | 1 Comment »