Argues that the Supreme Court would do better to rely on the Ninth Amendment when addressing issues regarding fundamental rights, rather than depending on the Constitution's due process clause.

This provocative essay considers the historical background, meaning and effect of the Ninth Amendment, which states "the enumeration in the Constitution of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people." Patterson feels the amendment was "forgotten" because no real purpose has been found for it. He argues that the amendment would become valuable if it was construed to incorporate the doctrine of natural law, which he ranks above constitutional rights. Moreover, this doctrine should serve to restrict federal and state power. "Whether the reader agrees with Mr. Patterson's contentions or not, the sincerity of his views cannot be gainsaid, and his treatment of the subject is stimulating and provocative. Right or wrong, his major contentions deserve evaluation by all students of Constitutional Law.": Donald J. Farage, Dickinson Law Review 60 (1955-56) 291.

The most important aspect of this book is its presentation of newly uncovered historical evidence which calls into question the currently presumed meaning and application of the Ninth Amendment.

WHY WAS THE CONSTITUTION NECESSARY?--WHAT KIND OF GOVERNMENT DID THE CONSTITUTION CREATE?--HOW IS THE CONSTITUTION INTERPRETED?

The right to be presumed innocence; the right to privacy; the right to equal protection under the law; the right to travel, marry, or have children and the right of a woman to terminate her pregnancy—these are a few of the many constitutional rights never mentioned explicitly in the Constitution. Such rights can be, but often aren't, supported by invoking the Ninth Amendment. Because of its open-endedness, the Ninth Amendment is still mired in an ill-fated perception as a constitutional nonentity and a legislative tradition that ignores its potential. As an antidote to this entrenched tradition, Calvin R. Massey presents a comprehensive and sensible account of how the Ninth Amendment could be, and has been, used to secure and preserve individual rights. For example, in a recent ruling the Supreme Court held that the right to terminate pregnancy was protected by the due process clause; in doing so, it cited the Ninth Amendment. By looking at such decisions and at its various interpretations in the literature, Massey explores the Ninth Amendment's original meaning and function, and the intention of its authors to prevent the creation of implied powers in the federal government and ensure that the bill of rights not become an exhaustive list of human rights. Massey presents a new method for recognizing implied constitutional rights and the possible contemporary role of the Ninth Amendment in constitutional law—a formula in which state constitutions would assume a larger role in fashioning unenumerated rights and the Supreme Court's voice would be less final. Author note:Calvin R. Masseyis Professor of Law at Hastings College of the Law, University of California, San Francisco, and the co-author ofThe California State Constitution.

Reproduction of the original: The Right to Privacy by Samuel D. Warren, Louis D. Brandeis