Changes

Rights and privileges of the citizens are currently incorporated by means of the [[Fourteenth Amendment]]. The Due Process Clause read “substantively” allows justices to apply a more modern meaning to the Fourteenth Amendment that incorporates “fundamental rights necessary to our system of ordered liberty.”<ref>''McDonald v. Chicago'' (2010), Samuel Alito's majority opinion</ref>

Rights and privileges of the citizens are currently incorporated by means of the [[Fourteenth Amendment]]. The Due Process Clause read “substantively” allows justices to apply a more modern meaning to the Fourteenth Amendment that incorporates “fundamental rights necessary to our system of ordered liberty.”<ref>''McDonald v. Chicago'' (2010), Samuel Alito's majority opinion</ref>

==History==

==History==

The first piece of the Bill of Rights to be incorporated was just compensation of the [[Fifth Amendment]] in 1897 in the case ''Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad Co. v. City of Chicago''.  The writer of the majority opinion in that case was [[John Marshall Harlan|Justice John Marshall Harlan]] joined by 6 other justices. The last amendment to be incorporated was the [[Second Amendment]] in the 2010 case ''McDonald v. Chicago''.

The first piece of the Bill of Rights to be incorporated was just compensation of the [[Fifth Amendment]] in 1897 in the case ''Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad Co. v. City of Chicago''.  The writer of the majority opinion in that case was [[John Marshall Harlan]] joined by 6 other justices. The last amendment to be incorporated was the [[Second Amendment]] in the 2010 case ''McDonald v. Chicago''.

Another theory to incorporation is use of the Privileges and Immunities Clause also embedded in the text of the Fourteenth Amendment. This was used by lawyers during the [[Slaughterhouse Cases]] in the 1870s but without success because the Court choose to read this provision with the legislative intent as applying only to freed slaves. In his concurring opinion in the 2010 case ''McDonald v. Chicago'', [[Clarence Thomas|Justice Clarence Thomas]] argues that the Privilege and Immunities Clause should be revisited as the proper vehicle through which the Bill of Rights is incorporated.<ref>''McDonald v. Chicago'' (2010), Clarence Thomas concurring opinion with the majority</ref>

Another theory to incorporation is use of the Privileges and Immunities Clause also embedded in the text of the Fourteenth Amendment. This was used by lawyers during the [[Slaughterhouse Cases]] in the 1870s but without success because the Court choose to read this provision with the legislative intent as applying only to freed slaves. In his concurring opinion in the 2010 case ''McDonald v. Chicago'', [[Clarence Thomas|Justice Clarence Thomas]] argues that the Privilege and Immunities Clause should be revisited as the proper vehicle through which the Bill of Rights is incorporated.<ref>''McDonald v. Chicago'' (2010), Clarence Thomas concurring opinion with the majority</ref>

==Total incorporation or selective==

==Total or selective incorporation==

Historically the doctrine has been interpreted as selective incorporation. Not every right in the Constitution applies to the state and local governments. The Supreme Court has evaluated arguments on a case-by-case basis to determine the necessity of incorporating the right in question. [[Hugo Black|Justice Hugo Black]] was a leading proponent of total incorporation: the idea that the entire Bill of Rights should be incorporated en bloc through the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.

Historically the doctrine has been interpreted as selective incorporation. Not every right in the Constitution applies to the state and local governments. The Supreme Court has evaluated arguments on a case-by-case basis to determine the necessity of incorporating the right in question. [[Hugo Black|Justice Hugo Black]] was a leading proponent of total incorporation: the idea that the entire Bill of Rights should be incorporated en bloc through the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.