Unenumerated Rights

[Emsworth]

Yes, but the ninth amendment does not add any right. It is merely a rule of construction.

[Emsworth]

Yes, but the ninth amendment does not add any right. It is merely a rule of construction.

What's the practical consequence of that valid point you're making, though?

The Ninth Amendment is not a substantive source of constitutional guarantees or rights. One cannot accurately rely solely on the Ninth Amendment when arguing that one has any particular right. For instance, the argument that "women have the right to have abortions under the Ninth Amendment" is unsound. The Amendment is, as A18 points out, simply a "rule of construction."

[Emsworth]

So that argument just changes to "women have the right to abortion anyways, and the 9th makes sure it can't be taken away from them".

Rights do not exist simply because you or I say they do. There must be some reason, some logic, some constitutional, legal, or historical basis for arguing that the right does exist. A mere statement that it exists is insufficient.

[Emsworth]

Was that the whole point?

Consider an argument along the following lines: "The Constitution does not explicitly mention the right to an abortion. Therefore, you do not have the right to an abortion." The point of the Ninth Amendment was to ensure that such arguments would not be treated as valid.

[Emsworth]

Not at all. The argument would be: "The Bill of Rights does not explicitly mention the right to murder people. Therefore, you do not have the right to murder people." But since Congress has no power to prohibit murder, you do have the right to murder within the 50 states (only with regard to the federal government).

That's in part my point. Here, you rely not only on the Ninth Amendment, but also the enumeration of powers. An argument that relies solely on the Ninth Amendment in support of a purported right is invalid.

[Emsworth]

There is no constitutional right to privacy, so it's irrelevant.

I would say that there is indeed a right to privacy. Such a deduction is supported, in my view, by the penumbra (sorry that I have to resort to this word) of the Fourth Amendment.

[Emsworth]

Hah, 'penumbra.' That's a neat way of admitting it's not actually part of the fourth amendment.

I will openly admit that it's not a part of the Fourth Amendment. I'm arguing that the right to privacy is an unenumerated right. My reference to the Fourth Amendment is to provide the basis for my assertion that there is indeed a right to privacy.

[Emsworth]

Apparentely it is in the fourth amendment.  Or at the very least the spirit of the document.  The point is, philip, it is preferable to interpret the old document that way rather than let states inhabited by religious intolerants run roughshod over Americans freedoms.   

Hmm, I'm not exactly comfortable with interpreting the Constitution inappropriately merely for convenience.

[Emsworth]

There are no unenumerated rights...

Then what is the point of the Ninth Amendment?