Lesson 4: Due Process, Equal Protection, and the Fourteenth Amendment

“...No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.”--Excerpt from Section One of the Fourteenth Amendment.

Outside of the ten amendments found in the Bill of Rights, the 14th Amendment holds a place of great significance to everyone living in the United States. This law has been the legal lynchpin of the great strides in civil rights and continues to shape our interpretation of due process and equal protection under the law.

The Fifth Amendment states that no person may be deprived of life, liberty, or property without due process of the law. Due process is how justice is administered and was created to protect individuals from the arbitrary powers of the state. During the period of Reconstruction following the American Civil War, many radicals in the United States Congress believed that greater legal clarification beyond the Fifth Amendment was needed to protect recently freed slaves from the powers of the individual states where they had originally been enslaved. This provided the impetus for the creation and ratification of the 14th Amendment. In addition to making almost anyone born or naturalized within the borders of the United States a citizen, preventing former confederate leaders from holding official government offices, and repudiating confederate war debt, the 14th Amendment ensured equal protection under the law and due process for any person in each in every state. Consequently, the amendment has become a cornerstone of American jurisprudence. In this lesson, you will learn about the principles of due process and equal protection of the law in addition to the many protections provided by the 14th Amendment.

Standard 4:

Individuals in a republic have rights, duties and responsibilities.

Benchmark 9.1.3.4.4:

Explain the current and historical interpretations of the principles of due process and equal protection of the law; analyze the protections provided by the Fourteenth Amendment.

Essential Question:

What is the significance of the 14th Amendment as it relates to individual rights and liberties?