How the Bill of Rights came to limit the states

Example 1

1. Check the date first. It is 1835.
2. In 1833, in Barron v. Baltimore, the Supreme Court had ruled that the Bill of Rights limited only the national government, not the states or the cities.
3. The Fourteenth Amendment, which forbids any state to deny a person due process of law, did not come until 1868. And the Court applied the Bill of Rights to the states only later still, one right at a time.
4. So in 1835 the Fourth Amendment did not limit a state. The man would have to look to his own state’s constitution for protection.

Answer: No. In 1835 the Bill of Rights limited only the national government (Barron v. Baltimore, 1833).

Example 2

1. Start with the words of the Bill of Rights. It was written to limit the national government; the First Amendment begins “Congress shall make no law.” The NYPD is not Congress or any part of the national government.
2. Then look at the Fourteenth Amendment (1868). It says “No State shall … deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law.” Cities are part of their states, so this limits the city too.
3. The Supreme Court reasoned that some rights in the Bill of Rights are so basic to liberty that taking them away would deny due process. It brought those rights into the Fourteenth Amendment’s protection, one at a time. This is called incorporation.
4. The Fourth Amendment’s protections reached the states this way; Mapp v. Ohio (1961) is one of the steps. So the officer is limited because of incorporation.

Answer: Because of incorporation: the Supreme Court applied the Fourth Amendment to the states through the Fourteenth Amendment’s due process clause.