Selective Incorporation refers to applying civil liberties to the states through Supreme Court rulings based on which amendment?

• A. the 14th Amendment
• B. the 1st Amendment
• C. the 5th Amendment
• D. the 8th Amendment

Answer: (A)

Selective incorporation is the process by which the Supreme Court has bound state governments to many of the protections in the Bill of Rights. It happens through the Fourteenth Amendment, whose Due Process Clause says states cannot deprive people of life, liberty, or property without due process. Starting in the early 20th century, the Court used that clause to apply most federal civil liberties to the states, so these rights also limit state action. That’s why the correct amendment is the Fourteenth—it provides the vehicle to bring those protections to the states. The First, Fifth, or Eighth Amendments establish rights, but incorporation uses the Fourteenth to extend those rights to state governments. For example, the Court gradually applied free speech protections to the states via the Fourteenth, and many other rights followed in later cases.