Existing comment:
"Incorporating" Rights
When the Bill of Rights was ratified in 1791, its protections of Americans' rights constrained only the Federal Government. State governments could still encroach on fundamental rights such as free speech or press.
Ratified in 1868, the 14th Amendment changed this -- eventually. It was not until the 20th century that the Supreme Court began to interpret the Due Process Clause of the 14th Amendment to require that states also protect individual rights. Case by case over decades, the Supreme Court ruled that most of the Bill of Rights applied to the states -- a process referred to as "incorporation." |