Which case contributed to the development of the selective incorporation doctrine by limiting some rights to be applied to the states over time?

• A. Palko v. Connecticut (1937)
• B. Barron v. Baltimore (1833)
• C. Katz v. United States (1967)
• D. Gitlow v. New York (1925)

Answer: (A)

The main idea here is selective incorporation—the idea that the Bill of Rights isn’t automatically imposed on the states, but rather some fundamental protections are applied to the states over time through the Fourteenth Amendment’s due process clause. Palko v. Connecticut is the case that crystallizes this approach. In 1937, the Court held that not every protection in the first eight amendments is guaranteed against state action; only those protections essential to ordered liberty would be incorporated. This established the gradual, case-by-case process by which liberties could be extended to cover the states, rather than an immediate, blanket incorporation of all rights.

Barron v. Baltimore showed the opposite idea—that the Bill of Rights originally restrained only the federal government, not the states—which is why it isn’t the example of selective incorporation. Gitlow v. New York started the incorporation trend by applying some protections to the states, but Palko specifically articulates the selective, “limited rights” approach that develops over time. Katz v. United States is about privacy and the Fourth Amendment, not the incorporation framework itself. So the best answer is the case that explicitly helped define selective incorporation.