Fourteenth Amendment
Fourteenth Amendment
14th Amendment specifically limited those state powers:
Text Article XIV - Rights Guaranteed
- Privileges and Immunities of Citizenship, Due Process, and Equal Protection
1: All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside.
No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.[1]2: Representatives shall be apportioned among the several States according to their respective numbers, counting the whole number of persons in each State, excluding Indians not taxed.
But when the right to vote at any election for the choice of electors for President and Vice President of the United States, Representatives in Congress, the Executive and Judicial officers of a State, or the members of the Legislature thereof, is denied to any of the male inhabitants of such State, being twenty-one years of age, and citizens of the United States, or in any way abridged, except for participation in rebellion, or other crime, the basis of representation therein shall be reduced in the proportion which the number of such male citizens shall bear to the whole number of male citizens twenty-one years of age in such State. [affects 2][2]3: No person shall be a Senator or Representative in Congress, or elector of President and Vice President, or hold any office, civil or military, under the United States, or under any State, who, having previously taken an oath, as a member of Congress, or as an officer of the United States, or as a member of any State legislature, or as an executive or judicial officer of any State, to support the Constitution of the United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof. But Congress may by a vote of two-thirds of each House, remove such disability.[3]
4: The validity of the public debt of the United States, authorized by law, including debts incurred for payment of pensions and bounties for services in suppressing insurrection or rebellion, shall not be questioned. But neither the United States nor any State shall assume or pay any debt or obligation incurred in aid of insurrection or rebellion against the United States, or any claim for the loss or emancipation of any slave; but all such debts, obligations and claims shall be held illegal and void.
5: The Congress shall have power to enforce, by appropriate legislation, the provisions of this article. [4] [ratified #14th Amendment]
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What changed
The 14th Amendment of the Constitution, ratified in 1868, fundamentally shifted the balance of power in the U.S. by placing the first major federal constraints on state police powers.
Before this amendment, the Bill of Rights mostly restricted the federal government, leaving states largely free to regulate their citizens without federal interference.
Ratified in 1868, the Fourteenth Amendment fundamentally altered the U.S. Constitution by establishing a United States citizenship, ensuring "equal protection of the laws," and guaranteeing due process against state violations. It extended Bill of Rights protections to state levels, abolished the three-fifths rule, and barred insurrectionists from office.
Key changes and provisions of the 14th Amendment included:
Defined all persons born or naturalized in the U.S. (including former slaves) as citizens of the U.S. and the state where they reside, reversing the Dred Scott decision.
Due Process & Equal Protection Clauses (Section 1): Prohibited states from depriving any person of life, liberty, or property without due process, or denying them equal protection of the laws, heavily impacting civil rights litigation.
Incorporation of Rights Doctrine: Enabled the Supreme Court to apply many Bill of Rights protections to state governments and former citizens of the states as established United States Citizens.
Privileges or Immunities Clause: Prevented states from abridging the privileges or immunities of U.S. citizens.
Representation Adjustment: (Section 2): Eliminated the 3/5ths rule, mandating that voting representation be based on the whole number of persons in each state. With a reduction in congressional representation if it denied voting rights to "male" citizens.
Disqualification Clause (Section 3): Barred individuals who engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the U.S. from holding federal or state office, unless Congress voted to remove the disability.
Debt Validation (Section 4): Validated the federal debt while prohibiting payment of debts incurred by the Confederacy.
Equal Protection Clause: Prohibited states from denying any person within their jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws, a foundation for modern civil rights which may be subject to the administration of government.
- ↑ 1. The Due Process Clause
This clause prohibits states from depriving "any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law".
Procedural Limits: States must follow fair legal procedures (like notice and a hearing) before using their police power to take someone's property or freedom.
Substantive Limits: It prevents states from enacting "arbitrary" or "unreasonable" laws. In cases like Mugler v. Kansas (1887), the Supreme Court ruled that a state's police power is not absolute and must be "reasonably" related to protecting public health, safety, or morals. - ↑ 2. The Equal Protection Clause
This clause prevents states from denying "any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws".
Preventing Discrimination: Historically, this was intended to stop Southern states from enforcing Black Codes that targeted formerly enslaved people.
Standard of Review: It forces states to justify why they might treat different groups of people differently under their police power. Today, this is the basis for challenging selective enforcement by police based on race or other protected classes. - ↑ 3. Incorporation of the Bill of Rights
The 14th Amendment became the "vehicle" for a process called Selective Incorporation.
Over time, the Supreme Court ruled that most protections in the Bill of Rights also apply to the states through the 14th Amendment.
This means state police can no longer conduct "unreasonable searches and seizures" (4th Amendment) or force "self-incrimination" (5th Amendment), which were originally only federal restrictions. - ↑ 4. Section 5 Enforcement Power
Unlike earlier amendments, the 14th Amendment includes Section 5, which gives Congress the power to pass "appropriate legislation" to enforce these limits.
This allowed for the creation of laws like 42 U.S.C. § 1983, which lets individuals sue state officials (including police) in federal court for constitutional violations.