Reply #70: Bill of Rights

[SeaBob]

I think it would help your argument if you were a little more clear. For example you refer to "the right to choose" By this language one can infer many different options. I suspect that by this phrase you are referring to a woman's right to choose whether or not she can abort a fetus or not.

Later you refer to "stare decisis..." I suspect you are referring to State decisions. your argument regarding "Their logic is that since there's no enumerated right to choose in the Constitution, the best they can do is hope the courts will expand existing enumerated rights to create new rights" is not with out merit It has been done several time before. Most notable was brown V Board of Education, where the Court stated that separate education was not equal education. Also Justice William O. Douglas, The longest serving Justice on the supreme Court observed that there is no specific guarantee of privacy addressed in the Constitution. However several of the articles combined do provide a reasonable expectation of privacy by an average citizen.
However your discussion of James Madison and Thomas Jefferson is very well stated. One thing I think is of vital to this discussion is whether the Constitution is viewed as a "living Document" that can adapt with the times while still maintaining the principles of our founding fathers or whether the constitution is viewed as an written in stone. This view, in my experience, is usually adopted by people who are arguing with a vested viewpoint.

All in all I enjoyed this discussion and look forward to more.

Be well and walk in peace