Tenth Amendment- State's Rights

"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."

In my opinion, the tenth amendment is very clear in what it states. If a power was not given to a branch of government then it is given to the states and the people residing in them. I believe that the line is blurred solely due to the Commerce Clause. The Supreme Court has greatly extended the reach of this clause and can seemingly apply it in most situations. We will continue to see issues like the ones below until a more concise interpretation is reached.





My Opinion: I chose this video because of the huge controversy that encircles it. The Constitution gives Congress the power to preside over matters of interstate commerce. The tenth amendment gives the states and the people the right to regulate all those issues not given to Congress and not banned from the states. The difficulty here is whether the gun affects interstate commerce even if it does not cross state lines. What if the bullets someone uses for it are made in a different state? Does it then fall under Congresses jurisdiction? This will ultimately be settled by the Supreme Court but I do not see it holding up.


"Pawlenty May Invoke The 10th Amendment To Block Minnesotans From Receiving Federal Health Care"
By Amanda Terkel on Sep 11th, 2009 at 10:41 am


Yesterday in a conference call with right-wing activists, Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty (R) joined the tenther movement by questioning whether federal health care reform is constitutional. When a caller asked, “I want to know if any of the governors are willing to invoke the 10th Amendment if the health care bill is passed,” Pawlenty replied:

Depending on what the federal government comes out with here, asserting the 10th Amendment might be viable option, but we don’t know the details. As one of the other callers said, we can’t really even get the president to outline what he does or doesn’t support in any detail. So we’ll have to see. I’d say that’s a possibility.

You’re starting to see more governors, including me, and specifically Gov. Perry from Texas, and most Republican governors express concern around these issues and get more aggressive about asserting and bringing up the 10th Amendment. So I think we could see hopefully a resurgence of those claims and maybe even lawsuits if need be.

This tenther argument is increasingly gaining steam with the far right. State lawmakers in both Florida and Georgia have brought up legislation that would allow their states to opt-out of any federal health care system. Even federal lawmakers like Sens. Tom Coburn (R-OK) and Jim DeMint (R-SC) and Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN) are saying that health care reform may be unconstitutional.

Tenther claims are far from the mainstream. In their world, landmark federal programs such as Medicare, Social Security, the federal highway system, and rules regulating airplane safety are unconstitutional. In fact, the South “justified both secession and the Civil War on the theory that the Constitution is nothing more than a pact between sovereigns that each state is free to leave at will.”

Perry, whom Pawlenty mentioned as a kindred spirit in the tenther debate, has even raised the possibility that Texas could secede from the union. “There’s absolutely no reason to dissolve it,” he said a few months ago. “But if Washington continues to thumb their nose at the American people, you know, who knows what might come out of that.” Will Pawlenty also advocate secession for Minnesota?


My Opinion: This article as well is very recent and very controversial. Do you see a pattern? Is the federal government specifically given the power to control health care in the Constitution? In specific terms, no. However, again the Commerce Clause has been extended to reach into this area. I believe that if the states get what they want out of the health care reform no cries will be heard. If the reform does not live up to their standards I would anticipate a handful of states to push for some enactment of the tenth amendment. These efforts will not go unnoticed but may be in vain.