What is the significance of Gitlow v. New York for incorporation?

• A. The First Amendment protections apply to the states through the Fourteenth Amendment.
• B. It created the standard for state-level jury trials.
• C. It established 'one person, one vote' in drawing state elections.
• D. It allowed unlimited corporate spending in campaigns.

Answer: (A)

Incorporation of federal rights to the states through the Fourteenth Amendment is the idea being tested. Gitlow v. New York is significant because it was the first Supreme Court case to apply the First Amendment’s free speech protections to state governments via the Fourteenth Amendment’s due process clause, starting the long process of selective incorporation. In the case, Gitlow was convicted under New York’s criminal anarchy law for distributing a manifesto; the Court upheld the conviction but held that the First Amendment still binds the states, permitting limits on speech that has a dangerous tendency while establishing that state action cannot ignore First Amendment protections. This decision established the principle that fundamental rights in the Bill of Rights constrain state laws, setting the stage for how other amendments would be applied to the states over time. The other options refer to different constitutional issues (jury trials, voting rights, or campaign spending) and do not address incorporation.