Chapter 4: Civil Liberties- Nationalizing the Bill of Rights

How were the Bill of Rights gradually incorporated into state law?

The Bill of Rights were gradually incorporated into state law, through the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.

What is the Fourteenth Amendment?

An amendment to the US Constitution containing a clause that has been used to make most of the Bill of Rights applicable to the states, as well as to recognize substantive and procedural rights.

How did Justice Hugo Black argue for the nationalization of the Bill of Rights?

Justice Hugo Black argued for the nationalization of the Bill of Rights, but the Supreme Court eventually adopted a practice of selective incorporation.

What did the two opposing viewpoints that debated how the Bill of Rights should be incorporated at the state level argue for?

One argued for total incorporation, or nationalization, of the first eight amendments. Others argued for gradual and selective incorporation.

What is the Bill of Rights?

The collective name for the first ten amendments to the United States Constitution.

What is selective incorporation?

The process by which American courts have applied certain portions of the U.S. Bill of Rights to the states.

What is the incorporation doctrine?

The process by which American courts have applied portions of the US Bill of Rights to the states, using the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.

What is nationalization?

the process of taking a private industry or private assets into public ownership by a national government or state ownership by a national government or state.