Which case began the process of applying the Bill of Rights to the states through the Fourteenth Amendment?

• A. Gitlow v. New York (1925).
• B. Brown v. Board of Education (1954).
• C. Marbury v. Madison (1803).
• D. Plessy v. Ferguson (1896).

Answer: (A)

Selective incorporation through the Fourteenth Amendment begins with Gitlow v. New York (1925). In this decision, the Supreme Court held that the First Amendment’s protections of speech and press apply to state governments by way of the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. This established, for the first time, that the Bill of Rights can limit state action, not just federal action. It wasn’t a full overlay of all First Amendment rights onto the states at once, but it set the crucial principle that state laws governing fundamental freedoms could be challenged as violations of due process. Over time, the Court gradually expanded incorporation to cover more rights through subsequent cases.

The other cases involve different constitutional topics: Marbury v. Madison established judicial review; Brown v. Board of Education addressed equal protection and school desegregation; Plessy v. Ferguson dealt with segregation under the “separate but equal” doctrine. None of these initiated the process of applying the Bill of Rights to the states.