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. Source: The Constitution Although this amendment does not have a specific right to incorporate, it has been used to balance the power between the states and the federal government through the concept of federalism. An example of a case involving federalism was US v. Morrison in 2000. In this case, the Supreme Court ruled that Congress lacked the authority under the commerce clause or the 14th amendment to have passed the Violence Against Women Act in 1994 because it did not affect interstate commerce or stop a state from causing harm (Oyez 1). Current Events: Obama's Affordable Care Act of 2010 brought the division of power between the state and federal government into question. The Supreme Court settled the questions on federalism in National Federation of Independent Businesses v. Sebellius in 2012. The Supreme Court ultimately concluded that the mandate requiring people to buy health insurance was not part of Congress’ power under the Necessary and Proper clause located in article 1, section 8 of the Constitution. It was not part of this clause because Congress has the power to regulate commerce under the commerce clause in Article 1 Section 8 of the Constitution, but they do not have the power to “compel” commerce by forcing people to buy health insurance. It was part of Congress' taxing power. The states also questioned if Congress had the power to force states to expand medicare, but there was no majority decision on this issue (Supreme Court 1). |