Which case is commonly cited for selective incorporation and the early steps in applying the Bill of Rights to the states?

• A. Palko v. Connecticut (1937)
• B. Barron v. Baltimore (1833)
• C. United States v. Windsor (2013)
• D. Katz v. United States (1967)

Answer: (A)

Selective incorporation is the idea that the Bill of Rights is applied to the states one right at a time, through the Fourteenth Amendment, rather than all at once. Palko v. Connecticut is the case most closely associated with this approach because it introduced the notion that not every protection in the Bill of Rights is automatically binding on the states; only those rights fundamental to ordered liberty would be incorporated over time. This set the framework for how the Court would gradually extend federal protections to state governments through subsequent cases.

Barron v. Baltimore shows the opposite idea—that the Bill of Rights originally restrained only the federal government, not the states—so it isn’t about incorporation. The other two options deal with different issues entirely—Windsor with same-sex marriage and Katz with privacy in a Fourth Amendment context—so they don’t illustrate the incorporation process.