Retained by the people : the "silent" Ninth Amendment and the constitutional rights Americans don't know they have

A leading American law professor argues for an often overlooked part of the American Constitution - the "subversive" Ninth Amendment - and why it is crucially important.

The Ninth Amendment lurks like an unexploded mine within the US Bill of Rights.

Its wording is direct: "The enumeration in the Constitution of certain rights shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people." However, there is not a single Supreme Court decision based on it, and many mainstream conservatives are actively hostile to the very mention of the Ninth Amendment.

Daniel Farber, a law professor at the University of California at Berkeley, makes an informed and lucid argument for employing the Ninth Amendment in support of a large variety of rights whose constitutional basis is now shaky.

The "case" he makes for the application of this unused amendment has profound implications in almost every aspect of the daily lives of American citizens.