CASES: Due Process

Question 1

Barron v. Baltimore (1833)

Answer 1

A Wharf and the Bill of Rights

Marshall – The Bill of Rights are only restrictions on the federal government and do not apply to state or local governments.

Question 2

The Slaughterhouse Cases (1872)

Answer 2

A Butcher Monopoly and the P&I Clause

Miller – The Privileges and Immunities Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment only protects rights guaranteed by the United States, and these rights are very limited and historically do not include civil rights. Thus, the Bill of Rights do not apply to the states through the P&I clause.

Question 3

Palko v. Connecticut (1937)

Answer 3

Double Jeopardy and Fundamental Rights

Cardozo – The Fourteenth Amendment includes only those rights that are “of the very essence of a scheme of ordered liberty.” These include rights that are “so rooted in the traditions and conscience of our people as to be ranked as fundamental.”

The Fifth Amendment’s right against double jeopardy is not a fundamental right, so it does not apply to the states through the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.

Question 4

Duncan v. Louisiana (1968)

Answer 4

Simple Battery and Trial by Jury

White – The Sixth Amendment right to a jury trial applies to state court proceedings through the Fourteenth Amendment.

Question 5

McDonald v. Chicago (2010)

Answer 5

Handgun Ban and Second Amendment

Alito (5-4) – The Second Amendment applies to the states because it is fundamental to the nation’s scheme of ordered liberty or deeply rooted in the nation’s history and tradition.

Question 6

Mullane v. Central Hanover Bank (1950)

Answer 6

Constructive Notice and Procedural Due Process

Jackson – The Due Process Clause requires that deprivation of life, liberty, or property by adjudication be preceded by notice and opportunity for hearing.

Notice must be reasonably calculated, under all the circumstances, to apprise interested parties of the pendency of the action and afford them an opportunity to present their objections.

Question 7

Mathews v. Eldridge (1976)

Answer 7

Social Security Termination and Procedural Due Process

Powell – Whether an administrative procedure meets the constitutional guarantees of the Due Process Clause requires a consideration of three factors:
(1) the private interest at stake in the administrative action;
(2) the risk of an erroneous deprivation of this interest through the procedures used, and the probable value, if any, of additional or substitute procedural safeguards; and
(3) the government’s interest, including the function involved and the fiscal and administrative burdens that additional or substitute procedural requirements would entail.

Question 8

Caperton v. A.T. Massey Coal (2009)

Answer 8

Corrupt Justice and Procedural Due Process

Kennedy (5-4) – Due process requires a judge’s recusal from a case if a person with a personal stake in the case had a significant and disproportionate influence in placing the judge on the case by raising funds or directing the judge’s election campaign while the case was pending or imminent.