Barron v. Baltimore held that the Bill of Rights applies to actions by which level of government?

Barron v. Baltimore held that the Bill of Rights applies to actions by which level of government?

• A. Federal Government Only
• B. State Governments Only
• C. Both Federal And State Governments
• D. Local Governments

Answer: (A)

Barron v. Baltimore tests how far the Bill of Rights reaches beyond the federal government. The Court held that these first ten amendments originally limited the actions of the national government, not the states or localities. In Barron’s case, the issue was whether the Fifth Amendment’stakings clause applied to actions by a city in Maryland; the Court decided it did not, meaning the protections of the Bill of Rights did not constrain state or local government at that time. This established the federalism pattern that the federal government alone is bound by the Bill of Rights, while state actions were free from those constraints (for now). The broader arc since then is incorporation through the Fourteenth Amendment, which gradually applied most of those rights to the states, but Barron itself centers on federal government restriction only.

Barron v. Baltimore tests how far the Bill of Rights reaches beyond the federal government. The Court held that these first ten amendments originally limited the actions of the national government, not the states or localities. In Barron’s case, the issue was whether the Fifth Amendment’stakings clause applied to actions by a city in Maryland; the Court decided it did not, meaning the protections of the Bill of Rights did not constrain state or local government at that time. This established the federalism pattern that the federal government alone is bound by the Bill of Rights, while state actions were free from those constraints (for now). The broader arc since then is incorporation through the Fourteenth Amendment, which gradually applied most of those rights to the states, but Barron itself centers on federal government restriction only.