THE 10TH AMENDMENT
TEXT OF THE 10TH 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.”
U.S. V. DARBY (1976)
• Supreme Court calls the 10 th Amendment a
Constitutional “truism”
• Essentially, it doesn’t add anything to what the
Constitution already says;
10TH AMENDMENT BACK-AND-FORTH
• National League of Cities v. Usery (1976)
• Extension of the Fair Labor Standards Act to the states is held Unconstitutional,
under the 10th Amendment
• 10th Amendment serves as a “cross-cutting” check on the Commerce Power
• Commerce Power extends far enough, but is checked by the 10th Amendment
here, because this act interferes with State Sovereignty (“Traditional State
Functions”)
• Garcia v. San Antonio Metro. Transit Authority (1985)
• Usery is Overruled
• “Traditional state functions” test is said to be unworkable
• Generally-applicable laws (to states as well as individuals) are permissible
• Unclear whether this is still good law—the dissenters declare their willingness to
quickly overrule it