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PatrickG
09-24-2005, 11:21 AM
Kervorkian writes book. (http://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050722/COLUMNIST17/507220318)

Jack Kevorkian has written a book pleading for the Ninth Amendment (never recognized in a decision by the Supreme Court) to be used.



Simply put, it is about one of the least-known amendments in the Bill of Rights. The Ninth Amendment says: "The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people." For the former pathologist, that says it all.

"Every human being is born with the lifelong, powerful, unalterable, essentially instinctual will or drive to absolute personal freedom," Kevorkian declares at the beginning of his short (65 pages) paperback, which is more like an extended pamphlet.

The full power of natural rights is latent in Amendment IX of the Bill of Rights, he argues over and over again. According to his theory, the Ninth Amendment renders all the other amendments superfluous.

He believes the Ninth Amendment guarantees the right of assisted suicide, or, as he would put it, "the right to seek a competent medical professional's assistance in ending unendurable suffering."

He also thinks it guarantees the right to marry anyone of any sex, ride a motorcycle without a helmet, carry concealed weapons, or fly the flag.

cactusmaac
09-24-2005, 12:01 PM
There has never been - as Kevorkian himself notes - a U.S. Supreme Court decision based on the Ninth Amendment. He thinks it is about time, and unless we start giving it the primacy it deserves, a fascist America is inevitable.

You gotta love slippery slope arguments.

Winslow
09-24-2005, 12:05 PM
I believe my right to beat the crap out of my neighbor when he parks me in is also protected under the Ninth Amendment.

Paul McEnery
09-24-2005, 01:03 PM
I believe my right to beat the crap out of my neighbor when he parks me in is also protected under the Ninth Amendment.
No no no.

You have the right to stove in his window, hot wire the car, drive it to the local dump, and set fire to it.

And then realize it's about to rain.