Chapter 9

DUE PROCESS OF LAW

This Chapter examines principally the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, which imposes the obligation of due process on the states. As you read, keep in mind that there is also a Fifth Amendment Due Process Clause, which applies only to the federal government; in general, anything that the Fourteenth Amendment Due Process Clause would require the states to do, the Fifth Amendment Due Process Clause requires the federal government to do. Here are the key concepts in this Chapter:

•     Due Process Clause generally: The Fourteenth Amendment provides (in part) that "no state shall make or enforce any law which shall ... deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law. ... " This is the Fourteenth Amendment's Due Process Clause.
•     The Bill of Rights and the states: One of the major functions of the Fourteenth Amendment's Due Process Clause is to make the Bill of Rights --- that is, the first ten amendments --- applicable to the states.

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