14th Amendment Cases: Due Process

• All cases involving the 14th Amendment due process clause are: Gitlow v. New York, Near v. Minnesota, Mapp v. Ohio, Gideon v. Wainwright, Griswold v. Connecticut, McDonald v. Chicago, and Timbs v. Indiana.

Gitlow v. New York (1925)

• Gitlow violated a New York law by attempting to teach the overthrow of the US government.
• The Supreme Court ruled that states cannot violate a person's 1st Amendment right to free speech.
• This case incorporated the 1st Amendment's freedom of speech to the states, preventing states from denying freedom of speech.

Near v. Minnesota (1931)

• The State of Minnesota shut down a newspaper due to its intended content.
• The Supreme Court deemed this action prior restraint/censorship, which violates the 14th Amendment.
• States must protect freedom of the press and not restrain it before publication.
• This case incorporated freedom of the press and established the principle against prior restraint.

Mapp v. Ohio (1961)

• Mapp's home was searched without a proper warrant, and evidence was used to convict her.
• States cannot deny a person's right to protection from unreasonable searches and seizures under the 14th Amendment.
• The Exclusionary Rule was established, stating illegally obtained evidence is inadmissible in court.
• This case incorporated the 4th Amendment's protection against unreasonable searches and seizures and established the exclusionary rule.

Gideon v. Wainwright

• Gideon was arrested for a bar fight and had to represent himself due to being unable to afford an attorney.
• Gideon argued that his 6th Amendment rights were violated in a letter to the US Supreme Court.
• The Supreme Court agreed that states must guarantee the right to counsel based on the 14th and 6th Amendments, in a unanimous decision.
• This incorporated the 6th Amendment right to counsel/attorney.

Griswold v. Connecticut (1965)

• A married couple and Planned Parenthood director were charged with violating a CT law prohibiting medical groups from discussing, distributing, or selling contraceptives.
• The Supreme Court established the right to privacy.
• All states have a responsibility to protect the right to privacy, based on the 9th amendment, and "penumbras" in the 1st, 3rd, 4th, and 5th amendments.

McDonald v. Chicago (2010)

• Chicago law essentially banned residents from possessing handguns.
• McDonald argued that the ban violated their 2nd Amendment rights, which should apply to state and local governments via the 14th Amendment.
• The Court ruled that the 2nd Amendment right to keep and bear arms for self-defense is fully applicable to the states under the 14th Amendment.
• This case incorporated the 2nd Amendment right to bear arms to the states.

Timbs v. Indiana (2019)

• Timbs claimed that forfeiting his $40,000 truck violated the 8th amendment right to no excessive fines; the maximum fine for his felony was $10,000.
• The Eighth Amendment Excessive Fines Clause is an incorporated protection applicable to the states.

Brandenburg v. Ohio (1969)

• Brandenburg lost his case as the Supreme Court ruled his speech consisted of "fighting words" and was not constitutionally protected.
• An exception was created for "fighting words" that can incite immediate lawless action.
• Symbolic speech was recognized as a protected form of speech.

Texas v. Johnson (1989)

• Flag burning is protected as a form of expressive speech.

Speech Restrictions

• Obscenity, libel, and slander are not protected forms of speech/press.

New York Times v. US (1971)

• The government cannot use prior restraint to censor leaked classified documents unless there is an immediate danger to the nation.
• The Nixon administration tried to block the NYT publication of leaked, classified information known as the 'Pentagon papers,' claiming it was a threat to national security.
• NYT claimed a violation of Freedom of the Press.
• Using prior restraint to stop the newspaper from publishing was a violation of the 1st amendment.
• The government could not demonstrate an immediate danger to the nation, therefore publication could not be stopped.
• This upholds the integrity of the 1st amendment freedom of the press and limits the government's ability to intrude on fundamental freedoms with a claim of 'national security.'
• The dissent believed the case was settled too quickly and that the justices made decisions without fully understanding the entire volumes of papers.

Schenck v. U.S. (1919)

• During World War I, Congress passed a law making it a crime to obstruct military recruitment.
• Schenck, a member of the Socialist Party, was arrested for encouraging men to evade the draft.
• Criminalizing speech dangerous to the operation of the military was not a violation of the 1st Amendment.
• The 'clear and present danger' test was established.

Tinker v. Des Moines (1969)

• Students wore black armbands to school to protest the Vietnam War and were expelled.
• Tinker claimed that their freedom of speech had been violated.
• The armbands represented symbolic speech, and the school could not prove that the students interfered with the education of others.
• Students do not lose their 1st amendment rights when they enter school property; protection of speech rights to students in school was extended, including symbolic speech.
• The dissenting opinion stated that freedom of speech does not allow people to express any opinion at any time and school officials should maintain a broad scope of power to maintain order.

Engel v. Vitale (1962)

• State-mandated school prayer was challenged.
• The government cannot mandate school prayer, according to a strict interpretation of the 1st amendment's Establishment Clause.

Lemon v. Kurtzman (1971)

• The issue was whether state laws that allowed government funding for religious schools violated the Establishment Clause.
• The Lemon Test is a three-part test to determine if a law violates the Establishment Clause: The law must have a secular (non-religious) purpose; the law cannot advance or hinder religion; the law cannot create an excessive entanglement between government and religion.
• An exception to the Establishment Clause was created, weakening the separation between church and state.

Wisconsin v. Yoder (1972)

• The State of Wisconsin tried to force Amish students to attend high school until age 16, but the parents wanted them to stop attending after 8th grade.
• The court agreed that the Amish parents' right to practice their religion was violated.
• If beliefs are sincerely held by a group, there is a need to determine whether the state's needs/laws are more important than religious freedom.
• The programs and lessons taught above 8th grade came into direct conflict with the religious values of the Amish Faith.
• Protection was provided under the free exercise clause, and a religious exemption from state law was allowed.

Employment Division; Dept of Oregon v. Smith (1990)

• Smith lost his job because he had taken a hallucination drug as part of his Native American religious ceremony and was denied unemployment compensation because he was fired for drug possession.
• Smith argued that the denial violated his right to practice his faith but the court ruled that people are free to exercise their faith as long as it does not cause harm to another person.
• This ruling created an exception to free exercise.

Brown v. Board (1954)

• The denial of admittance to certain public schools was claimed to have violated the 14th amendment's right to equal protection under the law, leading to a class action lawsuit.
• The precedent established in Plessy v. Ferguson, which stated that "separate but equal" is constitutional, was overturned.
• Separate educational facilities are inherently unequal and violate the 14th amendment's Equal Protection Clause.
• Desegregation of schools must happen with 'all due haste.'
• It marked the NAACP's first major victory, sparking the Civil Rights Movement, in a unanimous decision.

Roe v. Wade (1973)

• Based on the Griswold decision and the 9th Amendment, the right to an abortion and the trimester test was created.

Dobbs v. Jackson (2022)

• Roe v. Wade was overturned, and the abortion question was returned to the states.

Explore landmark 14th Amendment cases involving due process, including Gitlow v. New York and Near v. Minnesota. Learn how the Supreme Court applied the Bill of Rights to the states, safeguarding free speech and freedom of the press. Understand the principle against prior restraint.