Brief Fact Summary. The Plaintiff, Baron (Plaintiff), a wharf owner sued the Defendant, the city of Baltimore (Defendant) for taking his property without compensation in violation of the Fifth Amendment of the United States Constitution (Constitution).
Synopsis of Rule of Law. The Bill of Rights does not apply to state and local government, only to Federal government.
Issue. Does the Fifth Amendment of the Constitution apply to local government?
Held. No. Justice John Marshall (J. Marshall) writing for the Supreme Court of the United States (Supreme Court) observed that the framers intended the Amendments of the United States Constitution (Constitution) to apply only to the Federal government and not the states. Each state formulated their own constitution, so the Amendments did not apply to them. Article 1 Section: 10 of the Constitution provides an exclusive list of the restriction upon state government. Without words specifically stating that the Amendments of the Constitution apply to the states, the Supreme Court refused to recognize that they did. Moreover, the Amendments themselves lack words allowing for an interpretation that they apply to the states. Here, since there was no conflict between the city and state’s action and the Constitution the Supreme Court had no jurisdiction.
Each state established a constitution for itself, and in that constitution, provided such limitations and restrictions on the powers of its particular government, as its judgment dictated.
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