The Ninth Amendment

The Ninth Amendment is short and to the point. I’ve reproduced it below.

The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.

The basics of this statement are that, just because some rights aren’t explicitly identified and protected in the Constitution, doesn’t mean you aren’t still entitled to them. It means that the Constitution isn’t meant to be an all-inclusive list of the rights given to the people, and just because they’re not listed, doesn’t mean people don’t have them.

For example, the Constitution doesn’t explicitly identify that people have a right to own property. You still do. This amendment is included to remind people, just because the Constitution doesn’t say you have a right, doesn’t mean you don’t.