Selective incorporation uses which amendment to apply rights to the states?

Selective incorporation uses which amendment to apply rights to the states?

• A. The First Amendment
• B. The Fourteenth Amendment
• C. The Thirteenth Amendment
• D. The Fifth Amendment

Answer: (B)

Selective incorporation relies on the Fourteenth Amendment's due process clause to apply protections from the federal Bill of Rights to state governments. After the Civil War, the Fourteenth Amendment was designed to guard individual rights against state action, and the Supreme Court has used its due process clause to incorporate those rights onto the states one by one through various cases. This is why rights like free speech or protection against unreasonable searches become protections against state laws and state courts as well. The rights originate in the First Amendment, but the mechanism that binds them to states comes from the Fourteenth. The Thirteenth addresses slavery, and the Fifth contains federal due process protections; neither is the vehicle used to apply the Bill of Rights to the states. So the amendment that makes these rights binding on the states is the Fourteenth.

Selective incorporation relies on the Fourteenth Amendment's due process clause to apply protections from the federal Bill of Rights to state governments. After the Civil War, the Fourteenth Amendment was designed to guard individual rights against state action, and the Supreme Court has used its due process clause to incorporate those rights onto the states one by one through various cases. This is why rights like free speech or protection against unreasonable searches become protections against state laws and state courts as well. The rights originate in the First Amendment, but the mechanism that binds them to states comes from the Fourteenth. The Thirteenth addresses slavery, and the Fifth contains federal due process protections; neither is the vehicle used to apply the Bill of Rights to the states. So the amendment that makes these rights binding on the states is the Fourteenth.