Final answer:
Selective incorporation is the process by which liberties in the Bill of Rights have been applied to the states, ensuring that fundamental rights are protected at both the state and national level.
Step-by-step explanation:
Process of Applying the Bill of Rights to the States
The process by which some of the liberties in the Bill of Rights were applied to the states is known as selective incorporation. This began in 1897 when the Supreme Court decided that various provisions of the Bill of Rights protecting fundamental liberties and justice must be upheld by the states. The principle of selective incorporation means that the Constitution effectively incorporates parts of the Bill of Rights into state laws and constitutions, ensuring that these fundamental liberties are upheld nationally, even if not explicitly mentioned.
Through selective incorporation, the Court examined whether state laws violated principles that are essential to the inalienable rights of citizens. This process relied heavily on the Fourteenth Amendment's due process and equal protection clauses. Noteworthy is the case of Barron v. Baltimore in 1833, where the Supreme Court ruled that the Bill of Rights applied only to federal actions, not states. However, as constitutional interpretation evolved, selective incorporation expanded the protections of civil liberties to actions by state governments as well.