 After the passage of the Fourteenth Amendment in 1868 , the Supreme Court dealt with a series of cases regarding the scope of that amendment 's Due Process Clause . This Clause says that " Nor shall any State deprive any person of life , liberty , or property without due process of law " . The Court initially rejected an argument that the Due Process Clause applied to the state governments in Hurtado v. California ( 1884 ) , a case concerning the right to a grand jury hearing . Justice Matthews , writing for the majority of the Court , reasoned that " the Amendment prescribing due process of law is too vague and indefinite to operate as a practical restraint . " While this decision rejected an expanded reach of the Due Process Clause , the Court stated that the Clause did protect against state encroachment of " fundamental principles of liberty and justice which lie at the base of all our civil and political institutions " . 
