The Tenth Amendment is an amendment to the United States Constitution that was ratified on December 15, 1791. It states that any 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. The Tenth Amendment is similar to Article II of the Articles of Confederation, which states that each state retains its sovereignty, freedom, and independence, and every power, jurisdiction, and right, which is not by this Confederation expressly delegated to the United States, in Congress assembled.
The Tenth Amendment has been used as a tool for invoking nullification, or invalidation of any federal laws which that state has deemed unconstitutional with respect to the United States Constitution. It has been successfully utilized to nullify federal laws pertaining to gun rights, immigration, cannabis, and more. The Tenth Amendment helps to define the concept of federalism, the relationship between Federal and state governments. It has been interpreted as a clarification of the federal government being largely limited and enumerated, and that a government decision is not to be investigated as a potential infringement of civil liberties, but rather as an overreach of its power and authority.
