Modern Supreme Court doctrine embraces the doctrine of selective incorporation of the Bill of Rights against the states, meaning that the Court has held on a case-by-case basis that many of the provisions of the Bill of Rights limit state government action. Numerous Supreme Court decisions hold that particular provisions of the Bill of Rights have been applied to the states through the Fourteenth Amendment’s Due Process Clause.Primarily through the doctrine of selective incorporation, the Court has held that most provisions of the Bill of Rights apply to the states.
The Court has applied to the states the First Amendment’s guarantee of free exercise of religion, the prohibition on government establishment of religion, the rights of freedom of speech, freedom of the press, and freedom of assembly, and the right to petition the government. The Court has also incorporated against the states the Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms and the Fourth Amendment right to be free from unreasonable searches and seizures. Numerous Supreme Court cases have applied provisions of the Fifth and Sixth Amendments to restrict state government action. In addition, the Court has applied to the states the Eighth Amendment’s restrictions on excessive bail, excessive fines, and cruel and unusual punishments.
By contrast, the Court has declined to apply to the states the Fifth Amendment’s right to a grand jury indictment and the Seventh Amendment’s guarantee of a jury trial in civil cases in which the amount in controversy exceeds twenty dollars. The Court has had no occasion to decide whether the states must comply with the Third Amendment’s limitations on quartering troops in homes. The Ninth and Tenth Amendments do not expressly enumerate separate substantive rights for protection, though the Court has cited the Ninth Amendment in litigation against a state.
