Ray From Cleveland
Diamond Member
- Aug 16, 2015
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Where is the right to anything not specifically mentioned in the Bill of Rights? The Ninth Amendment makes it clear that the rights of the people don't have to be mentioned specifically in the Constitution.
Is it your claim that the Constitution doesn't require government to protect any rights outside the very few specifically cited? If you read the Federalist Papers you'll see that was the opposite of the authors' intent. They wanted to obligate government to protect - and let's not be coy here, "protect" means "stay the fuck away from" - all our rights. They wanted to turn the tables with the novel concept that people should be free to do whatever they want as long as they're not violating the rights of others. And the state should be limited to very specific powers.
What the 9th says is that rights are not specifically for the Bil of Rights only, and that it's also not written to deny other rights. However, a right would have to be written somewhere in order for the 9th to apply, wouldn't you think? After all, if we all make up our own set of rights, does the 9th protect each one? For instance I believe a police officer should have the right to shoot any criminal running away from him or her. If they don't have that right, why not if I (and they) believe it's their right to do so?