Also known as: 10th Amendment · Amendment X
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A constitutional amendment ratified in 1791 providing that 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.
Theo Thomas, a state sheriff, receives a federal directive requiring his department to perform background checks on all handgun buyers using state resources and personnel. He refuses, citing lack of funding and authority. The federal government seeks to compel compliance through enforcement actions. A court holds that the directive commandeers state officers in violation of the Tenth Amendment reservation of powers.
Tanya Tang, a state election official in a covered jurisdiction, must submit all voting changes for federal preclearance under a formula based solely on 1970s data. Neighboring states face no such requirement. She challenges the disparate treatment. The court invalidates the coverage formula because it lacks current justification under equal sovereignty principles reserved by the Tenth Amendment.
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Travis Tate, a state attorney general, sues to block a federal statute regulating in-state corporate activities that the state has long governed. The statute intrudes on areas traditionally left to state control without an enumerated federal power. The state argues the law exceeds congressional authority. The court examines whether the Tenth Amendment reserves the regulatory field to the state.
Tara Tran, a state environmental director, faces a federal statute ordering her legislature to enact a specific radioactive waste disposal plan or face liability. The state refuses to pass the required law. The federal government threatens penalties. The court rules that Congress may not commandeer the state's legislative process under the Tenth Amendment.
Theodore Tucker, a local producer, challenges a federal prohibition on an item traditionally regulated by state health laws. The statute reaches purely intrastate activity without clear enumerated authority. The state intervenes asserting reserved powers. The court considers whether the Tenth Amendment bars the federal intrusion into the state's domain.
Talia Torres, a state campaign finance regulator, enforces state rules on private political contributions after a federal statute regulates only private actors. The federal law imposes no duties on state officials or legislatures. Challengers claim the federal rules displace state authority. The court finds no Tenth Amendment violation because the statute targets private conduct without commandeering the state.
The doctrine prevents Congress from issuing directives that require states to address particular problems or command state officers to administer or enforce a federal regulatory program. It protects the states' sovereign authority reserved by the Tenth Amendment. Direct orders to state legislatures or executive officials violate this principle.
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The Tenth Amendment and principles of equal sovereignty require extraordinary justification when Congress subjects some states but not others to disparate federal requirements. Outdated coverage formulas lacking current data fail this standard. Such unequal treatment exceeds Congress's enforcement powers under related amendments.
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An individual criminal defendant may assert a Tenth Amendment claim that federal action exceeds Congress's enumerated powers and intrudes on state authority. The defendant must show injury in fact and redressability. Standing exists when the federal statute directly affects the defendant.
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The Tenth Amendment does not categorically prevent Congress from extending generally applicable laws such as wage-and-hour rules to state employees when Congress regulates states and private entities alike. Political-process safeguards in Congress protect state interests. Courts defer to Congress in such uniform regulatory schemes.
…tax and sue corporations only if its action comports with this Court’s notions of “natural justice.” I should have thought the Tenth Amendment settled that. I believe that the Federal Constitution leaves to each State, without any “ifs” or “buts,” a power to tax and to open the doors of its courts for its citizens to sue…