OPINION:
The Buttigieg and Biden/Harris “mileage tax” violates the Ninth Amendment, which protects our unenumerated rights (“Buttigieg: Biden eyes ’mileage tax’ on drivers that ’shows a lot of promise,’” Web, March 27). The Ninth Amendment reads: “The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.” One of these rights is the right to travel state to state, given in the Privilege and Immunities Clause in Article IV, Section 2, Clause 1 of the Constitution.
While the Privilege and Immunities Clause applies to the states, the decision in Corfield v. Coryell held that the right to travel is a fundamental right. As we all know, the government of the United States must not deny or disparage our fundamental rights. This leads us into the application of the Ninth Amendment.
Under the Ninth Amendment, violations of our unenumerated rights, those not actually written in the Constitution like the fundamental right to travel in the United States, may be redressed and enforced by the federal courts. The Buttigieg and Biden/Harris “mileage tax” denies and disparages our fundamental right to travel. Therefore it is unconstitutional on its face. The Commerce Clause cannot save it for the simple reason that it is not a regulation of interstate commerce; it is a direct tax on our fundamental right to travel.
The Ninth Amendment also prohibits the federal government from claiming powers not granted to it by the Constitution. This comes from the concept of a government of limited powers. The Ninth prohibits the federal government from claiming it has the unenumerated power to tax our mileage and thereby deny or disparage our fundamental right to travel in the United States to raise revenue.
MAJ. JAMES M. DORN
U.S. Army Reserve (retired)
Chino Hills, Calif.
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