CRCL - Undefined Rights Lesson

Undefined Rights

The Ninth and Tenth Amendments cover what is referred to as undefined rights.

According to these amendments, "The enumeration in the Constitution of certain rights, shall be construed to deny others retained by the people...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 Amendment is also called the "elastic clause" because it stretches the Constitution to guarantee undefined rights not specifically listed. The Tenth Amendment extends to the state the right to create laws for the best interests of their citizens. This is the basis for federalism.

Civil Rights and Civil Liberties

The Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution...The Doctrine of Selective Incorporation is a constitutional doctrine which ensures states cannot take away the constitutional rights given to United States citizens that are listed in the Bill of Rights. In other words, states don't have the power or ability to take these rights away from individuals.

Key Court Cases

• McDonald v. Chicago (2010) -
• Brown v. Board of Education (1954)
• Civil Rights Act of 1964
• Title IX of the Education Act of 1972
• The Voting Rights Act of 1965

IMAGES CREATED BY GAVS