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The 14th Amendment was passed after the American Civil War, and was designed to prevent states from denying due process and equal protection under the law to their citizens.

First, it provides a broad definition of U.S. citizenship, saying that all persons "born or naturalized" in the United States are citizens, and must be treated as such. This overturned the Supreme Court's notorious ruling in "Dredd Scott v. Sandford"

Second, it requires states to give everyone under their jurisdiction equal protection of the law - this was designed to prevent states from passing laws that were overtly discriminatory, especially based on race.

Third, it prohibited states from depriving persons of life, liberty, or property without due process of law. This provision in the 14th Amendment has probably had the most wide-reaching effects. As the Bill of Rights (the first 10 Amendments to the Constitution) is written, it only applies to the federal government, and for more than 100 years, was held not to apply to the states.

The 14th Amendment changed all of this - the Due Process clause of the 14th Amendment has been read by the Supreme Court, beginning in the early 20th century, to apply most of the bill of rights to the states. Because the phrases "liberty" and "due process" are not defined in the constitution, it is up to the federal courts to give them meaning. In determining if a given state action violated this clause of the 14th Amendment, the Supreme Court began looking to other rights guaranteed in the constitution to determine which rights are considered "fundamental" in American Jurisprudence.

By the middle of the 20th Century, almost every amendment in the bill of rights had been incorporated against the states. The exceptions are the 3rd Amendment, which prohibits the government from quartering troops in private residences (but that amendment hasn't been relevant since the Civil War), the 2nd Amendment right to bear arms (though the Supreme Court did just recently hold that this amendment does confer an individual right to own guns for self-defense, and it's very possible that it could be incorporated in the next few years), the 5th Amendment's requirement of indictment by grand jury for felonies, the 7th Amendment right to a jury trial in civil cases, and the 8th Amendment's protection against excessive bail.

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15y ago

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