Which amendment states that rights not enumerated in the Constitution are retained by the people?

• A. First Amendment
• B. Ninth Amendment
• C. Tenth Amendment
• D. Eighth Amendment

Answer: (B)

The idea here is that not all rights are written down in the Constitution. The Ninth Amendment addresses this directly by saying that listing certain rights in the Constitution should not be understood to deny or disparage other rights retained by the people. In other words, just because a right isn’t spelled out doesn’t mean it doesn’t belong to the people. This protects unenumerated rights and keeps them from being overridden simply because they aren’t enumerated.

To see how this fits with the other amendments: the First Amendment lists specific freedoms like religion and speech; the Eighth prohibits cruel and unusual punishment; the Tenth reserves powers not given to the federal government for the states or the people. Only the Ninth Amendment is about rights that aren’t explicitly named but still belong to the people, which is why it’s the correct choice.