jun 8, 1925 - Gitlow v. New York

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This case ruled that the U.S. Constitution's First Amendment protection of free speech applied also to state governments. It all started when a man named Benjamin Gitlow published a newspaper that advocated the violent overthrow of the U.S. government. Although Gitlow argues nothing violent happened, he was still tried. The idea of selective incorporation came into play with this case. Selective incorporation is a constitutional doctrine that ensures states cannot enact laws that take away the constitutional rights of American citizens that are listed in the Bill of Rights. The outcome was therefore that these rights had to be applied to the states as well. This case give the federal government more power because it declared that these rights also applied to state governments.

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