[Political Junkie Too]

In the 1833 case Barron v. Baltimore, the Supreme Court specifically ruled that the Bill of Rights provided "security against the apprehended encroachments of the general government—not against those of local governments."

I look at how the the question of the behavior of schools pertains to the rights in the Constitution.

Clearly, public schools are about as local as one can get as a government institution, and yet we're barraged by 1st amendment claims about what can and cannot go on in schools. So, what does that say about the extension of the Bill of Rights to local governments?

-PJ

[JeffAtlanta]

Clearly, public schools are about as local as one can get as a government institution, and yet we're barraged by 1st amendment claims about what can and cannot go on in schools. So, what does that say about the extension of the Bill of Rights to local governments?

The 14 amendment didn't exist in 1833.

The states were not bound by the protections regarding freedom of speech until the after the SCOTUS decided Gitlow v. New York in 1925. Before that time, the states could deny freedom of speech all they wanted.

The court, like in all of incorporation, decisions used the due process clause of the 14th amendment to determine that the freedom of speech was such an essential liberty that no government entity could infringe upon it.

The problem is that the SCOTUS has only selectively incorporated the protections of the Bill of Rights.

Also, "trial by jury in civil cases", "unanimous jury verdict" and "freedom from quartering soldiers" have also NOT been incorporated.