How has the Supreme Court influenced the process of incorporating the Bill of Rights? Explain how Palko and Duncan changed the Supreme Court’s approach to selective incorporation.

The Supreme Court of the United States has played a pivotal role in the process of incorporating the Bill of Rights through its decisions, notably the doctrine of selective incorporation. Originally, the Bill of Rights was intended to limit only the federal government and not the state governments. However, the Fourteenth Amendment, ratified in 1868, introduced the Due Process Clause, which prohibits states from depriving any person of "life, liberty, or property, without due process of law."

Selective incorporation is the process by which the Supreme Court has applied parts of the Bill of Rights to the states using the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. This process began in the early 20th century and has been utilized in numerous cases to protect individual rights from state infringement.

The cases of Palko v. Connecticut (1937) and Duncan v. Louisiana (1968) were significant in the evolution of the Supreme Court's approach to selective incorporation.

In Palko v. Connecticut, Frank Palko had been tried twice for the same offense and was convicted of murder in the second trial after being convicted of a lesser charge previously. He argued that this double jeopardy violated his Fourteenth Amendment rights. The Supreme Court, however, decided that the Double Jeopardy Clause of the Fifth Amendment was not a fundamental right applicable to the states. The Palko decision effectively created a standard—it established that only those rights which were deemed "fundamental"—those without which a fair and enlightened system of justice would be impossible—would be protected against state action.

The game-changer came with Duncan v. Louisiana in 1968. Gary Duncan, a black teenager, had been convicted of simple battery without a jury trial in Louisiana, a right granted by the Sixth Amendment for federal cases. Duncan argued that this right should also be applicable in state courts. The Supreme Court agreed, ruling that the Sixth Amendment right to a jury trial in criminal cases is a fundamental right and is, therefore, incorporated into the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment and applicable to the states. This decision shifted the Court towards a more inclusive application of the Bill of Rights to the states, indicating that most of its protections were indeed fundamental rights.