Which case began applying the Bill of Rights to the states through the Due Process Clause of the 14th Amendment, establishing selective incorporation?

• A. Barron v. Baltimore (1833)
• B. United States v. Carolene Products Co. (1938)
• C. Palko v. Connecticut (1937)
• D. Gitlow v. New York (1925)

Answer: (D)

Selective incorporation is the process by which the protections in the Bill of Rights are applied to state governments through the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, not just to the federal government. Gitlow v. New York (1925) is the pivotal case because it held that the First Amendment’s free-speech protections apply to the states via the Fourteenth Amendment, marking the start of applying Bill of Rights limits to state governments. Barron v. Baltimore established the opposite view—that the Bill of Rights restrained only the federal government—so it does not represent the start of incorporation. United States v. Carolene Products Co. is notable for other constitutional principles (like the Footnote Four approach) and not for beginning incorporation. Palko v. Connecticut (1937) refined how the Court judges which rights are incorporated by introducing a “fundamental rights” test, but it came after Gitlow and did not initiate incorporation.