Question

What did supreme court decisions incorporating the bill of rights mean

Answer 1

Most protections of the Bill of Rights applied to state governments.

Answer 2

Prior to the ratification of the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States,  The Bill of Rights ( the first 10 Amendments to the Constitution) only applied to the Federal government. This meant that  states were not obliged to adopt the Amendments and the laws that came as a result of them.

After the Civil War ended, the Fourteenth Amendment was created and ratified, the Bill of Rights was now applicable not only to federal courts but also to state ones. This meant that citizens were now more protected, as federal and states obligations are the same in most cases.