The Supreme Court has reaffirmed a long-standing principle of American constitutional law: the Bill of Rights originally applied only to the federal government and did not restrict state governments. The First Amendment states, "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press, or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances." Under the original Constitution, states could enact laws limiting these rights without violating the First Amendment unless their own constitutions prohibited such laws.

This changed with the 1868 ratification of the 14th Amendment. Senator Jacob Howard (R-Mich.), who introduced the amendment in 1866, explained that many constitutional rights "do not operate in the slightest degree as a restraint or prohibition upon State legislation." He said the amendment's primary goal was "to restrict the power of the States and compel them at all times to respect these great fundamental guarantees."

On June 8, 1789, James Madison proposed a series of constitutional amendments that became the Bill of Rights. Madison emphasized the need for these protections to apply to states as well, stating, "Because it must be admitted, on all hands, that the state governments are as liable to attack these invaluable privileges as the general [national] government is, and therefore ought to be as cautiously guarded against."

Historical examples illustrate the necessity of such protections. In 1831, the Georgia legislature authorized a $5,000 bounty to be paid by the Governor to anyone who arrested and prosecuted the editor or publisher of "the Liberator," or anyone circulating the paper in Georgia, under state law.

These facts highlight the original constitutional framework and the evolution of protections against state infringement on fundamental rights.

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