Selective Incorporation and the Bill of Rights

The Bill of Rights was developed to protect citizens from the federal government and not from the state government. Initially, the Bill of Rights promise was offered to citizens to allow for the ratification of the constitution. Selective incorporation involves the doctrine that applies some of the Bill of Rights guarantee at a state level mandated by the Supreme Court. Moreover, selective incorporation is based on how fundamental or non-fundamental a right is (Wilson, DiIulio, Bose, and Levendusky, 2016). The Bill of Rights parts that do not apply to the state include the Fifth Amendment and the Fourteenth Amendment.

The Fourteenth Amendment was proposed to protect the rights of the freed slaves in the South. The constitution stated that three-fifths of the slaves were added to the whole number of free persons and allowed for slave importation until 1808. After the year 1808, congress was allowed to end the importation of slaves. The constitution also stated that slaves were to be returned to their original states under the people in need of their labor when they escaped to states that were slavery-free (Wilson, DiIulio, Bose, and Levendusky, 2016).

The court now allowed for the movement and relocation of citizens to other states where they would enjoy the privileges accorded to citizens of that given state. The first eight amendments were selectively incorporated into the Fourteenth Amendment, although not all rights were incorporated to the states, such as the Fifth Amendment. The Fifth Amendment focuses on suspects of the court regarding individual freedom and public safety. Selective incorporation is evident when it comes to the issue of public safety versus individual rights accorded to the suspect (Wilson, DiIulio, Bose, and Levendusky, 2016).

In conclusion, the selective incorporation of amendments into states is a process governed by the court. The court carries out selective incorporation depending on how fundamental a right or amendment is.