Which case is commonly cited for the incorporation of the First Amendment against the states through the Fourteenth Amendment?

• A. Barron v. Baltimore
• B. Near v. Minnesota
• C. Gitlow v. New York
• D. Palko v. Connecticut

Answer: (C)

Incorporation through the Fourteenth Amendment means the rights in the First Amendment are applied to state governments as well as the federal government. The case most commonly cited for beginning that process is Gitlow v. New York. In Gitlow, the Supreme Court held that the First Amendment’s protections for free speech and a free press apply to the states via the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. This established that state laws cannot infringe those fundamental liberties, marking the start of selective incorporation and transforming how rights are protected across the whole country.

Barron v. Baltimore is about the Bill of Rights restraining only the federal government, not the states, so it doesn’t illustrate incorporation. Near v. Minnesota is important for free press protections, and it fits within the broader incorporation story, but Gitlow is remembered as the key starting point for applying First Amendment freedoms to the states. Palko v. Connecticut deals with how some rights become incorporated over time (fundamental rights) and helped refine the doctrine, but it isn’t the case most people cite as the starting point of incorporation.