Which case is closely associated with the incorporation of First Amendment rights through the Fourteenth Amendment?

Which case is closely associated with the incorporation of First Amendment rights through the Fourteenth Amendment?

• A. Barron v. Baltimore
• B. Gitlow v. New York
• C. Korematsu v. United States
• D. Near v. Minnesota

Answer: (B)

The essential idea here is incorporation: using the Fourteenth Amendment to apply the protections in the Bill of Rights to state governments. Gitlow v. New York is the landmark because the Court held that the First Amendment’s free speech and free press protections apply to the states through the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. This case established the doctrine of incorporation, beginning the process of making federal rights binding on state action. Barron v. Baltimore, by contrast, held that the Bill of Rights restricts the federal government only, not the states, so it does not illustrate incorporation. Korematsu deals with wartime internment and equal protection rather than applying First Amendment rights to state action. Near v. Minnesota is about prior restraint and press freedom, an important First Amendment decision, but it is not the case that first established incorporation. So Gitlow is the best answer because it initiated the link between the Fourteenth Amendment and First Amendment protections at the state level.

The essential idea here is incorporation: using the Fourteenth Amendment to apply the protections in the Bill of Rights to state governments. Gitlow v. New York is the landmark because the Court held that the First Amendment’s free speech and free press protections apply to the states through the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. This case established the doctrine of incorporation, beginning the process of making federal rights binding on state action.

Barron v. Baltimore, by contrast, held that the Bill of Rights restricts the federal government only, not the states, so it does not illustrate incorporation. Korematsu deals with wartime internment and equal protection rather than applying First Amendment rights to state action. Near v. Minnesota is about prior restraint and press freedom, an important First Amendment decision, but it is not the case that first established incorporation. So Gitlow is the best answer because it initiated the link between the Fourteenth Amendment and First Amendment protections at the state level.