How is the 10th Amendment used in everyday life?
Asked by: Ed Wuckert | Last update: February 12, 2026Score: 4.7/5 (62 votes)
The 10th Amendment shapes everyday life by reserving powers to states and people, leading to variations in laws on driving (speed limits, licensing), education, marriage/divorce, and local policing, while also influencing debates over federal mandates like mask rules or marijuana laws, often seen in the "anti-commandeering doctrine" preventing federal commands to states. It's the basis for state-level decisions on health, welfare, and safety, from business regulations to pandemic responses.
What is an example of the 10th Amendment in real life?
Real-life examples of the Tenth Amendment, which reserves powers not given to the federal government to the states or people, include state control over marriage/divorce laws, speed limits, education, marijuana legalization, and COVID-19 mask mandates, as well as court cases like Printz v. US (federal government can't force state officers to run background checks) and NY v. US (states control waste disposal). It prevents federal overreach in traditional state matters, though federal influence often comes through funding incentives, like the drinking age tied to highway funds, notes Study.com.
How is the 10th Amendment used today?
Since 1992, the Supreme Court has ruled that the Tenth Amendment prohibits the federal government from forcing states to pass or not pass certain legislation, or to enforce federal law. In New York v.
How does the 10th Amendment affect my life?
Unspecified and general rights
The Tenth Amendment is different from most other parts of the Bill of Rights: It doesn't give people any new rights at all. Instead, it says that everything not specifically granted to the federal government in the Constitution belongs to people or to their state governments.
What are examples of 10th Amendment cases?
topic: tenth amendment
- Calder v. Bull 3 U.S. 386 (1798)
- Martin v. Hunter's Lessee 14 U.S. 304 (1816)
- Gibbons v. Ogden 22 U.S. 1 (1824)
- Northern Securities Co. v. ...
- McCray v. United States 195 U.S. 27 (1904)
- Hammer v. Dagenhart 247 U.S. 251 (1918)
- State of Missouri v. Holland 252 U.S. 416 (1920)
- Bailey v.
Constitutional Conversation: 10th Amendment
When has the 10th Amendment been used?
Several Supreme Court decisions have invoked the Tenth Amendments, frequently when trying to determine if the federal government operated within, or overstepped, the bounds of its authority. 1958's Cooper v.
What is the 10th Amendment in simple terms for kids?
The 10th Amendment is like a rule that says the U.S. government only gets the powers listed in the Constitution, and any powers not listed belong to the states or the people, keeping power balanced; think of it as if the federal government is a chef with a specific recipe book (the Constitution), and if a recipe isn't in there, the states (or you!) can make their own dishes, like deciding school rules or driving ages.
How does the 10th Amendment affect healthcare?
But it is undisputed that the text of the Tenth Amendment says nothing about mandates, inactivity, or any other aspect of Congress's power to regulate commerce among the states (including health care); it simply says that all powers not delegated to the national government are reserved to the states or to the people.
How does the 10th Amendment impact education?
States and local school boards control and regulate public schools. According to the U.S. Constitution's 10th Amendment, “the powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution… are reserved to the States respectively.” In fact, the Constitution is silent on education.
What is an example of a violation of the 10th Amendment?
Violations of the Tenth Amendment often involve the federal government overstepping its bounds by commandeering state resources or infringing on powers reserved for states, as seen in *Printz v. U.S. (forcing local police to conduct gun background checks) and *New York v. U.S. (requiring states to take radioactive waste), establishing the "anti-commandeering" doctrine that protects state sovereignty from federal mandates. Other examples involve federal laws dictating state policy on education standards (Common Core) or healthcare funding (Affordable Care Act Medicaid expansion) through coercion, where states face loss of federal funds if they don't comply, though these have had mixed legal outcomes.
How do the 10 Amendments impact us?
The Bill of Rights is the first 10 Amendments to the Constitution. It spells out Americans' rights in relation to their government. It guarantees civil rights and liberties to the individual—like freedom of speech, press, and religion.
What would happen if the 10th Amendment didn't exist?
It would be unconstitutional for the federal government to exercise the proposed power. If the Tenth Amendment were still taken seriously, most of the federal government's present activities would not exist.
What does the 10th Amendment say about marriage and family laws?
Specifically, the Tenth Amendment holds that “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.” This has long been interpreted to put family law under the exclusive jurisdiction of the states.
How is the 10th Amendment still relevant today?
The national government cannot “commandeer” the operation of state governments by forcing states or their political subdivisions to regulate in accordance with a federal plan or to enforce federal law.
What is the 10th Amendment in simple terms Quizlet?
Under the 10th Amendment, the federal government can NOT command, commander, compel, or coerce a state government to do something. But it may regulate the state directly (pay minimum wage), threaten with preemption, or bribe a state.
What is the 10th Amendment Society?
The Tenth Amendment Center is an American political organization that advocates states' rights and restricting federal power.
What is the main purpose of the Tenth Amendment?
The Tenth Amendment aims to protect state sovereignty and ensure that the federal government does not overstep its constitutional authority.
Why is prayer not allowed in public school?
The Supreme Court has held, for example, that public school officials violated the Establishment Clause by inviting a rabbi to deliver a prayer at a graduation ceremony because such conduct was "attributable to the State" and applied "subtle coercive pressures," "where the student had no real alternative which would ...
What Amendment allows free education?
The California Constitution has guaranteed children in our state a system of free schools since 1879. (California Constitution, Article IX, Section 5.)
How does the 10th Amendment impact state laws?
The Tenth Amendment safeguards the principles of federalism. Federalism refers to the division of power between the federal and state governments. It generally protects states' rights by limiting the federal government's ability to regulate or command state governments to adopt policies or enforce federal laws.
What is the purpose of section 10 of the Constitution?
Article I, Section 10, limits the power of the states. States may not enter into a treaty with a foreign nation; that power is given to the president, with the advice and consent of two-thirds of the Senate present. States cannot make their own money, nor can they grant any title of nobility.
Which amendment protects healthcare?
With regard to implementing health equity, the Fourteenth Amendment seems a natural place in US law on which to focus. Indeed, “the equal protection clause is generally thought to require government to treat similarly circumstanced individuals in a similar manner.”
What is an example of the Tenth Amendment being used?
In recent decades, the main place we've seen the 10th Amendment invoked is the anti-commandeering doctrine. This doctrine says the federal government cannot issue commands to the states, for example by requiring them to administer federal laws. Politically and ideologically, the doctrine cuts in different ways.
What do the 10 amendments mean in simple terms?
The first ten amendments, known as the Bill of Rights, simplify to: 1st (Freedoms: speech, religion, press, assembly, petition), 2nd (Right to bear arms), 3rd (No forced housing of soldiers), 4th (No unreasonable searches/seizures), 5th (Due process, no self-incrimination/double jeopardy), 6th (Fair & speedy trial rights), 7th (Jury trials in civil cases), 8th (No cruel & unusual punishment/excessive bail), 9th (Other rights exist), and 10th (Powers reserved to states/people).
What is the 10th Amendment and its relationship to education?
In 1791, the 10th Amendment stated, “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.” Public education was not mentioned as one of those federal powers, and so historically has been delegated to the local ...