[wzb1]

The most recent SCOTUS rulijng on the NY “assault(incorrect term)”rifle ban brought a question. Do the BoR’s apply only to the general government? If so, the ruling appears to a(rare) decision that is Constitutional. Can a State limit speech,religion etc? It would seem,since there were state churches in place when the Constitution was ratified, the BoR can be limited by the State.

[gutzmank]

Since the 1910s, the federal courts have been in the business of claiming that first one provision of the Bill of Rights, then another was enforceable against the state governments. Most recently, Justice Scalia claimed that the 2nd Amendment was. This leaves very little of the first eight amendments that isn’t.

I understand this entire trend to be mistaken. The best explanation is Raoul Berger’s _Government by Judiciary_. Follow up with his _The Fourteenth Amendment and the Bill of Rights_.

[Author]

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