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Ninth and 10th do not cite specific rights

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The Bill of Rights — the first 10 amendments to the U.S. Constitution — was ratified by a new nation 215 years ago today. These rights have become entrenched in the American ethos over years, even as their exact definitions and applications continue to be argued in conversations among citizens, in the halls of government and in the courts.

The document, like the U.S. Constitution it amends, continues to live and breathe.

Two hundred years ago, the framers debated whether the Constitution should include a list of rights of Americans. James Madison, then a congressman from Virginia, advocated for a bill of rights even though he initially doubted the need for such a "paper barrier." According to the book "Foundations of Freedom," Madison initially didn't believe that any document would cause the government to resist the urge to pass oppressive laws in times of war or other crisis.

Madison, who would become the fourth president, eventually came to the conclusion that a bill of rights was a practical necessity, in part to prevent a rewrite of the entire Constitution. So in the Bill of Rights we find the principles important to the people at the time our nation was founded — principles we must protect today.

Madison's foresight was 20/20, and his warning is especially timely today when the Bush administration supports wiretapping phone lines without warrants, running offshore CIA secret prisons, and investigating people's financial records. The Patriot Act even allows authorities to investigate a person's reading materials — an intrusion made by the government in the name of protecting the nation.

The Bill of Rights' most important function is to provide ordinary citizens with protection from an overzealous government. It resulted from the founders' belief that power is inherently seductive and too easily abused.

Yet it's vital to remember that the Bill of Rights, like the inspiring language of freedom and equality in the Constitution and Declaration of Independence, did not apply to everyone at the time. It took years to broaden the rights to include people of color and women. It's equally important to remember that the rights many of us now take for granted are still being challenged and interpreted.

In 1941, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt declared Dec. 15 as Bill of Rights Day. It's worth taking a few minutes today to review this remarkable document.

● Amendment I: Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.

● Amendment II: A well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed.

● Amendment III: No soldier shall, in time of peace be quartered in any house, without the consent of the owner, nor in time of war, but in a manner to be prescribed by law.

● Amendment IV: The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.

● Amendment V: No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a grand jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the militia, when in actual service in time of war or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offense to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.

● Amendment VI: In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the state and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the assistance of counsel for his defense.

● Amendment VII: In suits at common law, where the value in controversy shall exceed twenty dollars, the right of trial by jury shall be preserved, and no fact tried by a jury, shall be otherwise re-examined in any court of the United States, than according to the rules of the common law.

● Amendment VIII: Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.

● Amendment IX: The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.

● Amendment X: 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.