Quote:
Originally Posted by EarnedStripes44
How does the 9th amendment figure into all of this? Is it the spring board for "2nd generation rights?
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No.
Where would one find the philosophical support for the government to compel one person to provide anything to another?
The way I read the 9th, such a reservation of power would specifically preclude it.
The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.
Because the typical justification for the government mandating such "second generation rights" is an expansion of the general welfare clause of the Constitution's Preamble.
The 9th's purpose was to allay Federalist fears that by simply listing some rights, such enumeration would be taken as the formal and complete listing of the rights of the citizen.
This particular principle is where some conservatives go off on an illegitimate tangent, usually in their zeal to oppose abortion.
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