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The Fourteenth Amendment applies many, but not all, Bill of Rights protections to state and local governments through a Supreme Court doctrine called selective incorporation. The Court has recognized particular protections one by one, chiefly through the Amendment’s Due Process Clause; there is no single ruling that automatically extended the entire Bill of Rights to the states.
What does it mean to incorporate a right?
Incorporation is the process by which a protection in the Bill of Rights—which originally limited the federal government—is also made applicable to state and local governments through the Fourteenth Amendment. When the Supreme Court recognizes a particular protection as incorporated, a state or city cannot disregard that constitutional protection simply because it is not the federal government.
The word “selective” matters. The Court has considered particular rights separately rather than treating the Bill of Rights as one indivisible package. A court therefore needs to identify the specific right at issue and the relevant decisions about it. Saying that a right is incorporated does not, by itself, answer every question about what the right requires, whether government action violated it, or what remedy is available.
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The doctrine comes from the Court’s interpretation of the Fourteenth Amendment, not from a list in the Amendment that names each Bill of Rights provision. Section 1 says, among other things, that no state may “deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law.” That is constitutional text; the Supreme Court’s cases supply the connection between that guarantee and particular protections in the first ten amendments. The 2026 Constitution Annotated supplement describes the history and current incorporation entries.
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Why did the Bill of Rights not originally bind the states?
When the Bill of Rights was adopted, it was understood to restrain the federal government, not the state governments. In Barron v. City of Baltimore (1833), the Supreme Court declined to apply the Fifth Amendment’s Takings Clause to Baltimore. Chief Justice John Marshall wrote that the amendments “contain no expression indicating an intention to apply them to the state governments.”
That approach meant a constitutional limit imposed on the federal government did not automatically become a limit on state or municipal action. The Fourteenth Amendment, ratified after the Civil War, changed the constitutional landscape: Section 1 placed new restrictions on states. It bars states from abridging the privileges or immunities of U.S. citizens and from depriving any person of life, liberty, or property without due process of law. Litigants argued that these guarantees protected rights found in the Bill of Rights against state interference.
Why does incorporation rely chiefly on the Due Process Clause?
The Fourteenth Amendment has more than one clause that might appear relevant, but the Supreme Court’s controlling incorporation doctrine has mainly developed through the Due Process Clause. The Privileges or Immunities Clause was argued as another route. In the Slaughter-House Cases (1873), however, the Court read that clause narrowly, describing the relevant rights as those “which owe their existence to the Federal government, its National character, its Constitution, or its laws.” That reading left the clause without a successful general role in applying the Bill of Rights to the states.
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There has not been complete agreement about the best constitutional route. In McDonald v. City of Chicago (2010), the plurality relied on Due Process to apply the Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms to states. Justice Clarence Thomas, in a separate concurrence, favored the Privileges or Immunities Clause instead. His view is important to the debate, but it should not be mistaken for the controlling rationale of the plurality’s decision. For a case-by-case account, see the Congressional Research Service explanation of selective incorporation.
Which Bill of Rights protections has the Court incorporated?
The official 2026 Constitution Annotated table identifies Supreme Court decisions that formally recognize particular provisions as applicable to states, while distinguishing those decisions from assumptions, dicta, or lower-court rulings. The examples below show why the history must be read provision by provision. They are not a complete inventory of every clause or every rule associated with those clauses.
| Provision | Key Supreme Court decision | What the example shows |
|---|---|---|
| Free Exercise Clause | Cantwell v. Connecticut (1940) | Recognized as incorporated against the states. |
| Free Speech Clause | Gitlow v. New York (1925) | The Court initially assumed the protection applied; the decision is later recognized as an incorporation decision. |
| Establishment Clause | Everson v. Board of Education (1947) | Formally incorporated. Earlier, Cantwell had assumed incorporation without deciding it. |
| Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms | McDonald v. City of Chicago (2010) | The plurality used Due Process; Justice Thomas’s concurrence favored Privileges or Immunities. |
| Fourth Amendment protection against unreasonable searches and seizures | Wolf v. Colorado (1949); Mapp v. Ohio (1961) | Wolf applied the protection to states; Mapp later applied the exclusionary rule. |
| Third Amendment protection against quartering soldiers | No Supreme Court decision formally incorporating it | The official table notes a lower-court ruling and a related penumbral reference in Griswold, not a Supreme Court incorporation holding. |
| Ninth and Tenth Amendments | Not treated as subject to incorporation in the official table | The table notes that they do not expressly enumerate substantive rights for protection. |
The distinction between a formal holding and an assumption is more than a technicality. The Constitution Annotated’s table counts a provision as formally incorporated when a Supreme Court decision holds that it applies to states through the Fourteenth Amendment. A court may refer to a right, assume it applies, or discuss related principles without making that holding necessary to the outcome. The Third Amendment example illustrates why those categories should not be collapsed.
Does incorporation include the remedy as well as the right?
Not necessarily. A right and the rules used to enforce it can have separate constitutional histories. The Fourth Amendment example makes the point: Wolf v. Colorado applied the protection against unreasonable searches and seizures to the states, while Mapp v. Ohio later applied the exclusionary rule, a remedy associated with illegally obtained evidence.
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That distinction cautions against treating a broad label—such as “the Fourth Amendment is incorporated”—as a complete answer to a practical legal question. The specific rule, remedy, and circumstances still matter. A reader researching a particular search, prosecution, or other government action needs to look at the doctrine for that right, rather than assume that incorporation settles every issue.
Does the doctrine cover city and county governments?
Yes. The protections made applicable through the Fourteenth Amendment constrain state and local governments, not only state legislatures. The relevant question is whether the challenged action is government action covered by the constitutional rule. The fact that a decision or policy comes from a city or county does not, by itself, place it outside incorporation.
That does not mean the same constitutional rule resolves every dispute involving government. Each incorporated right has its own doctrine, and a person still must identify the government action and the specific protection at issue. Incorporation answers an important threshold question—whether the protection applies to state and local government—but it is not a substitute for analyzing the underlying right.
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Does the entire Bill of Rights apply to states?
No. The Supreme Court rejected the idea that the whole Bill of Rights automatically applies to states as a single package. It has recognized many protections individually, while some provisions have not been formally incorporated by the Court. The Ninth and Tenth Amendments, for example, are not treated as subject to incorporation in the official table because they do not expressly enumerate substantive rights for protection.
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So the most accurate short answer is neither “the Bill of Rights never applies to states” nor “all ten amendments apply in exactly the same way.” Many specific protections do apply to states and local governments; the status and scope of a particular provision depend on the Court’s decisions about that provision. The overview of incorporation and its discussion of the modern selective-incorporation doctrine provide additional context.
How should you check whether a specific protection applies?
Start with the exact constitutional protection, not the general phrase “the Bill of Rights.” Then check whether the Supreme Court has formally held that the provision applies to states through the Fourteenth Amendment, and distinguish that holding from an assumption, a passing reference, or a lower-court decision. Finally, look separately at the doctrine governing the particular conduct and any remedy at issue.
- Name the provision precisely. For example, distinguish the Fourth Amendment’s protection against unreasonable searches and seizures from the exclusionary rule used in some cases.
- Find the relevant Supreme Court decision. Determine whether it formally recognized incorporation or merely assumed the right applied.
- Identify the government actor. Incorporation concerns state and local government as well as state government more broadly.
- Read the right-specific doctrine. Incorporation makes a protection applicable; the standards for applying it and the available consequences depend on the specific right and case law.
The Supreme Court’s case law can develop, so a provision-specific conclusion should be checked against current decisions. The 2026 Constitution Annotated supplement is a useful official reference for the status reflected in its table, but it is not a replacement for reviewing later cases when the precise current rule matters.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is incorporation the same thing as the Equal Protection Clause?
No. Incorporation is the doctrine through which particular Bill of Rights protections are applied to state and local governments, chiefly through the Fourteenth Amendment’s Due Process Clause. Equal Protection is a separate clause in Section 1; the two should not be treated as interchangeable labels.
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Can the Supreme Court recognize additional protections as incorporated later?
The doctrine has developed through decisions addressing particular rights, rather than through a single exhaustive incorporation ruling. A later Supreme Court decision could therefore affect how a specific provision is understood; check current case law when a provision’s status is consequential.
Does incorporation mean a state can never regulate the conduct protected by a right?
No. Incorporation makes the constitutional protection applicable to state and local government; it does not mean every regulation involving that subject is automatically invalid. The governing test depends on the particular right and the circumstances.
What does “formally incorporated” mean in the official table?
It means the Supreme Court has held that the provision applies to states through the Fourteenth Amendment. An assumption, a passing reference, or a lower-court ruling may be relevant history, but it is not the same as that formal Supreme Court holding.
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