Which term describes the process by which the Bill of Rights is applied to the states through the 14th Amendment?

Which term describes the process by which the Bill of Rights is applied to the states through the 14th Amendment?

• A. Judicial review
• B. Incorporation
• C. Due process
• D. Equal protection

Answer: (B)

Incorporation is the process by which the protections in the Bill of Rights are made applicable to state governments through the Fourteenth Amendment. The idea is that the Bill of Rights originally limited only the federal government, but the Fourteenth Amendment’s Due Process Clause has been used to require states to honor those same rights, one by one, in a process known as selective incorporation. Over time, the Supreme Court has applied most of the Bill of Rights to state and local governments, ensuring that fundamental protections like freedom of speech and the right to counsel bind the states as well. This mechanism is distinct from judicial review, which is the Court’s power to declare laws unconstitutional, and from the concept of due process itself, which refers to fair legal procedures but serves here as the vehicle that carries those rights to the states. Equal protection, while related to constitutional guarantees, addresses how laws treat people rather than the method for applying the Bill of Rights to state governments.

Incorporation is the process by which the protections in the Bill of Rights are made applicable to state governments through the Fourteenth Amendment. The idea is that the Bill of Rights originally limited only the federal government, but the Fourteenth Amendment’s Due Process Clause has been used to require states to honor those same rights, one by one, in a process known as selective incorporation. Over time, the Supreme Court has applied most of the Bill of Rights to state and local governments, ensuring that fundamental protections like freedom of speech and the right to counsel bind the states as well. This mechanism is distinct from judicial review, which is the Court’s power to declare laws unconstitutional, and from the concept of due process itself, which refers to fair legal procedures but serves here as the vehicle that carries those rights to the states. Equal protection, while related to constitutional guarantees, addresses how laws treat people rather than the method for applying the Bill of Rights to state governments.