Opinion ID: 470377
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Ninth and Tenth Amendment Claims.

Text: 21 The Strandbergs argue the district court erred in granting summary judgment with regard to their claims based on the penumbras of the ninth and tenth amendments. The ninth amendment states, the enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people. It has been argued that the ninth amendment protects rights not enunciated in the first eight amendments. See Griswold v. Connecticut, 381 U.S. 479, 85 S.Ct. 1678, 14 L.Ed.2d 510 (1965) (Goldberg, J., concurring); Wise v. Bravo, 666 F.2d 1328, 1332 (10th Cir.1981). Nevertheless, the ninth amendment has never been recognized as independently securing any constitutional right, for purposes of pursuing a civil rights claim. Canton Beach NAACP v. Runnels, 617 F.Supp. 607, 609 n. 3 (S.D.Miss.1985); Bartel v. F.A.A., 617 F.Supp. 190, 194 (D.D.C.1985); Charles v. Brown, 495 F.Supp. 862, 864 (N.D.Ala.1980). The Supreme Court has repeatedly voiced concern that a section 1983 claim be based on a specific constitutional guarantee. Daniels v. Williams, --- U.S. ----, 106 S.Ct. 662, 666, 88 L.Ed.2d 662 (1986); Parratt v. Taylor, 451 U.S. 527, 544, 101 S.Ct. 1908, 1917, 68 L.Ed.2d 420 (1981); Paul v. Davis, 424 U.S. 693, 700-01, 96 S.Ct. 1155, 1160-61, 47 L.Ed.2d 405 (1976). The district court properly dismissed the Strandbergs' claim based on the penumbras of the ninth amendment. 22 The tenth amendment states, 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. The Strandbergs point to no case law which supports their contention that the tenth amendment either alone, or in conjunction with the ninth amendment, provides grounds upon which to bring a civil rights claim. The district court correctly determined the tenth amendment creates no constitutional rights cognizable in a civil rights cause of action. 23