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The Tenth Amendment (Amendment X) to the United States Constitution, a part of the Bill of Rights, was ratified on December 15, 1791. [1] It expresses the principle of federalism, whereby the federal government and the individual states share power, by mutual agreement, with the federal government having the supremacy.
States that rights not enumerated in the Constitution are retained by the people. September 25, 1789 December 15, 1791 2 years, 81 days 10th [21] States that the federal government possesses only those powers delegated, or enumerated, to it through the Constitution, and that all other powers are reserved to the states, or to the people.
Moreover, the Constitution expresses various other limitations on Congress, such as the one expressed by the Tenth Amendment: "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."
Article I, Section 1 of the U.S. Constitution explains the powers delegated to the federal House of Representatives and Senate.
In Australia, despite the centralized nature of the constitution, the High Court adopted the "reserved powers doctrine" which was used until 1920 to preserve as much autonomy for the states as can be interpreted from the constitution. This practice changed with the Engineers' Case which led reserved powers to be given to the Commonwealth. [3]
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. [36] Notably, the Tenth Amendment has been successfully utilized to nullify restrictive federal laws pertaining to gun rights, [37] immigration, [38] cannabis, [39] and more.
Some of the more important powers reserved to the states by the Constitution are: the power, by "application of two-thirds of the legislatures of the several states," to require Congress to convene a constitutional convention for the purpose of proposing amendments to or revising the terms of the Constitution (see Article V). [57]
While there is no specific list of what these "reserved powers" may be, the Supreme Court has ruled that laws affecting family relations, commerce within a state's own borders, abortion, and local law enforcement activities, are among those specifically reserved to the states or the people. [152] [153]