When the Supreme Court, in Gideon v. Wainwright, ruled Clarence Gideon was to be appointed legal counsel, they incorporated that
right to all people. What mechanism allows the Supreme Court to do this? A) The Supreme Court uses the due process clause of the 14th Amendment to incorporate the Bill of Rights on the states.
B) The Supreme Court uses their Article III powers to incorporate the Bill of Rights for all citizens of the United States.
C) The Supreme Court uses the equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment to incorporate the Bill of Rights on the states.
D) The Supreme Court uses the citizenship clause of the 14th Amendment to incorporate the Bill of Rights for all citizens of the United States.
The Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution each contain a due process clause. Due process deals with the administration of justice and thus the due process clause acts as a safeguard from arbitrary denial of life, liberty, or property by the government outside the sanction of law. The Supreme Court of the United States interprets the clauses broadly, concluding that these clauses provide three protections: procedural due process; substantive due process, a prohibition against vague laws; and as the vehicle for the incorporation of the Bill of Rights.
