How has the Supreme Court interpreted the Ninth Amendment of the US Constitution?

The Ninth Amendment of the US Constitution states that the enumeration of certain rights in the Constitution shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people. The Supreme Court has held that the Ninth Amendment is a “rule of construction” that establishes the principle that the people’s rights are not limited to those explicitly enumerated in the Constitution. In the 1965 Supreme Court case Griswold v. Connecticut, the Court unanimously held that the Ninth Amendment provided a “penumbra” of rights retained by the people, which included the right to privacy. The Court used the Ninth Amendment to strike down a Connecticut law that prohibited the use of contraceptives by married couples. The Supreme Court has since used the Ninth Amendment to protect certain unenumerated rights from state or federal laws that might otherwise infringe upon them. In the 1990 case of Cruzan v. Missouri Department of Health, the Court held that the Ninth Amendment protected the right to refuse medical treatment, even in the absence of a state right-to-die statute. In 1992, the Supreme Court used the Ninth Amendment to strike down a federal law that had placed restrictions on the distribution of abortion counseling materials. The Court found that the law violated the privacy and free speech rights of those distributing materials, which were protected by the Ninth Amendment. Overall, the Supreme Court has consistently held that the Ninth Amendment is a safeguard for fundamental, unenumerated rights of the people. The Court has used it to protect rights such as privacy, freedom of speech, and the right to refuse medical treatment.

How has the Supreme Court interpreted the Ninth Amendment of the US Constitution?

Related FAQs

Related Blog Posts