Why We Need Enumeration


Volume 98, Program 10


7/2/2010




If a right is protected by the Constitution, is that good enough? It depends…. On today’s Home School Heartbeat, host Mike Farris explains why a Parental Rights Amendment is necessary, even when the right of parents to teach their children is already protected by the Constitution.


Mike Farris:


Ten years ago, Justice Scalia said in the case of Troxel v. Granville that “a right of parents to direct the upbringing and education of their children is among the ‘unalienable Rights’ which the Declaration of Independence proclaims ‘all Men … are endowed by their Creator.’” In other words, parental authority is one of the “unenumerated rights” protected by the Ninth Amendment. Now, if this is true—and it is—then parental rights are already a part of the Constitution. So why do we need a Parental Rights Amendment?


Well, here’s why.


In this same case, Justice Scalia goes on to say, “I do not believe that the power which the Constitution confers upon me as a judge entitles me to deny legal effect to laws that … infringe upon … that unenumerated right [of parental authority].” In other words, judges cannot grant you protection for your inalienable rights if those rights are not specifically recognized by the Constitution.


Scalia says that if a law passed by Congress or by a state legislature infringes on one of your unenumerated Ninth-Amendment rights, he can’t do anything about it—you’ll have to take it up with the legislature. But if that right is “enumerated” in the Constitution—or in an Amendment—then he, as a judge, can protect it.


Should we need a Parental Rights Amendment? No, we shouldn’t.


But do we need a Parental Rights Amendment in light of what the Supreme Court has done? Unquestionably. I’m Mike Farris.