The Incorporation Doctrine was devised by the Supreme Court to apply the state rights that are enumerated in the Bill of Rights. This is to ensure that the individual states are not by-passing the Bill of Rights in their decision making process. Although our forefathers predestined our government to stay small the Supreme Court recognized that the states should not be allowed to become too large either. It reiterates our desire to keep a series of checks and balances not only with our National government, but also with our individual states.
There are several Supreme Court cases, which show the transgression of the Bill of Rights as they are extended to the states. The forerunner of all the cases is Barron v. Baltimore. This case
In Gitlow v. New York the Court decided that a state government must abide by some the First Amendment rights. The Fourteenth Amendment, which was ratified in 1968 declared "No state shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States nor shall any state deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws." Although many of the court decisions that made the Bill of Rights strong seemed contentious, it still reinforces our freedoms, so the states and local governments, and last but certainly not least, our national government cannot infringe upon our basic rights as citizens of this great nation.
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