How did the Supreme Court use the Fourteenth Amendment to apply many Bill of Rights protections to the states?

The Supreme Court has applied most protections of the Bill of Rights to the states through a process known as selective incorporation. This legal doctrine relies on the due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, which prohibits states from depriving any person of "life, liberty, or property, without due process of law".123

Rather than applying the entire Bill of Rights at once, the Court has selectively incorporated specific rights that it deems "fundamental" to the American "scheme of ordered liberty and system of justice". This evolution began in the 20th century, notably with Gitlow v. New York (1925), which extended the First Amendment’s protection of speech to state governments.321

Over subsequent decades, the Court used this clause to incorporate other essential liberties, including freedom of religion, freedom of the press, the right to a fair trial, and, in McDonald v. Chicago (2010), the Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms. By grounding these protections in the Fourteenth Amendment, the Court ensures that states are held to the same constitutional standards as the federal government.12