wat is the meaning of 9th and 10th amendments?

Question

easy words please..i need to explain this to a 7 year old

Answer 1

The Ninth Amendment says that, even though the Constitution may not specifically mention/guarantee a right, people still have those rights (i.e. the Constitution doesn't say we have the right to sneeze but that doesn't mean you don't have that right, even if, in this case, it's a silly right).

The Tenth Amendment says that states have power over issues that have not been delegated to Congress and the federal government. Most notably, states control education.

Both the Ninth and Tenth Amendments are generally considered not too important these days (it served the purpose of separation of powers back in the days) and rarely come up in legal cases.

Amendments V-VII (4-8) are concerned with the search & seizure, the legal process, and just punishment.

Answer 2

I'm not sure what the first answerer was responding to, but the answers have nothing to do with 9th and 10th amendments to the US Constitution.

The 9th Amendment, in its entirety, reads:

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

This means that the basic rights of citizens, as enumerated by Amendments 1-8, cannot be interpreted by the Federal government as the *only* rights that people have. Rights not specifically described in the Constitution may still be valid, and the government cannot claim that just because a right to something isn't specifically called out, it must not be OK.

The 10th Amendment says:

"The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved for the States respectively, or to the people."

This one is extremely important. It says that if the Constitution doesn't explicitly grant power to the Federal government, and doesn't explicitly prohibit something -- then the those powers are reserved for the states or for individual citizens.

Answer 3

The 9th meant that this list won't have ALL the rights people should enjoy. The Framers didn't want people to be denied other rights later by someone saying "well it's not in the Bill of Rights." This was AT LEAST the rights people should enjoy.

The 10th was put in because the Framers feared a too-powerful central government, and wanted to limit the power of the central (meaning Federal) government. So any rights not listed or crimes not mentioned in the Constitution were left up to the states.

Answer 4

9th - there are some rights beyond what's listed in the Bill of Rights. We can't take away those rights either.

10th - rules not specifically in the constitution are left up to the states and more local governments. This is because Washington DC is very far away and the US is so big, that it's better to let leaders nearby deal with more local problems.

Answer 5

9th:

If someone wants to take someone else to court - sue them - and it is for more than $20, then the person being sued can ask for a jury trial.

Once a jury has decided, the guy who wants to sue can't go back to find another court and try to sue again for the same thing, except in some really special cases that only lawyers understand.

10th:

If you get arrested, they can't demand bail that is out of proportion to your crime - like a million dollars to get out of jail for a traffic ticket. Also, it is illegal to torture prisoners, or to put someone to death by really painful, really horrible means.