The 14th Amendment
Section 1
“All persons born or naturalized in the
United States and subject to the jursidiction thereof, are citizens of the
United States and of the State wherein they reside. No state shall make or
enforce any law which shall abridge the priveleges or immunities of citizens of
the United States; nor shall any state deprive any person of life, litberty, or
property, without due rocess of law; nor deny to any person within its
jurisdiction the equal protection on the laws.”
Source: The Constitution
Section 1
“All persons born or naturalized in the
United States and subject to the jursidiction thereof, are citizens of the
United States and of the State wherein they reside. No state shall make or
enforce any law which shall abridge the priveleges or immunities of citizens of
the United States; nor shall any state deprive any person of life, litberty, or
property, without due rocess of law; nor deny to any person within its
jurisdiction the equal protection on the laws.”
Source: The Constitution
Though the initial intention of the Fourteenth Amendment was to help secure equality for newly freed slaves, its power was expanded to justify applying the federal rights granted by the Bill of Rights to state governments. Prior to the passing of the Fourteenth Amendment, the Bill of Rights only applied on the federal level. Today we take our basic rights for granted, however before 1866, you would only recieve your due process clause rights if you committed a federal crime. If you committed a crime at the state level, you would have no guarentee of a fair trial. Following the Civil War, numerous states passed laws contradicting the Constitution taking away citizens' rights such as this due process of law. Many states also had their own constitutions, which did not always match the federal constitution, and thus their laws were not always uniform and just. It was only when the Fourteenth Amendment was passed that the Supreme Court began applying the Bill of Rights to state governments, on a case by case basis. This is the process known as Selective Incorporation.
The best way to understand Selective Incorporation is to look at examples of where it failed.
BARRON VS. BALTIMORE
The first time the question of whether the Bill of Rights applied to state governments or not arose was in 1833 (over 30 years before the passing of the Fourteenth Amendment) when John Barron sued the mayor of Baltimore for dumping sand by Barron’s wharf to the point where the water became too shallow for many boats. According to the Fifth Amendment, the government must compensate citizens for taking or damaging private property for public use. However, the court ruled that since the mayor of Baltimore is not part of the federal government, the Fifth Amendment did not apply and Barron could not receive compensation. Chief Justice John Marshall claimed "the first ten amendments contain no expression indicating an intention to apply them to the state governments. This court cannot so apply them" (Americapedia).
BARRON VS. BALTIMORE
The first time the question of whether the Bill of Rights applied to state governments or not arose was in 1833 (over 30 years before the passing of the Fourteenth Amendment) when John Barron sued the mayor of Baltimore for dumping sand by Barron’s wharf to the point where the water became too shallow for many boats. According to the Fifth Amendment, the government must compensate citizens for taking or damaging private property for public use. However, the court ruled that since the mayor of Baltimore is not part of the federal government, the Fifth Amendment did not apply and Barron could not receive compensation. Chief Justice John Marshall claimed "the first ten amendments contain no expression indicating an intention to apply them to the state governments. This court cannot so apply them" (Americapedia).
THE SLAUGHTERHOUSE CASES OF 1873
This grouping of three similar cases is significant as they were the first time the United States Supreme Court
interpreted the 14th Amendment. Butchers and slaughterhouses in New Orleans were dumping animal waste
into rivers from which drinking water came, leading to 11 cholera outbreaks between 1832-1869. The state tried to pass an act centralizing slaughterhouses, giving them a designated area in the city to contain the waste assigning a specific company to regulate all slaughterhouses. Over 400 members of the Butcher’s Benevolent Association argued that this was violating their basic Constitution-given rights. They tried to use the Privileges and Immunities Clause of the recently passed 14th Amendment to avoid the restrictions on their business, but the Supreme Court decided that the Privileges and Immunities Clause only affects United States citizenship, and not individual state
citizenships.
This grouping of three similar cases is significant as they were the first time the United States Supreme Court
interpreted the 14th Amendment. Butchers and slaughterhouses in New Orleans were dumping animal waste
into rivers from which drinking water came, leading to 11 cholera outbreaks between 1832-1869. The state tried to pass an act centralizing slaughterhouses, giving them a designated area in the city to contain the waste assigning a specific company to regulate all slaughterhouses. Over 400 members of the Butcher’s Benevolent Association argued that this was violating their basic Constitution-given rights. They tried to use the Privileges and Immunities Clause of the recently passed 14th Amendment to avoid the restrictions on their business, but the Supreme Court decided that the Privileges and Immunities Clause only affects United States citizenship, and not individual state
citizenships.