 Hurtado left open the question of what " fundamental principles of liberty and justice " would be protected . In 1897 , the Court held in Chicago , Burlington & Quincy Railroad v. Chicago ( 1897 ) that the Fifth Amendment 's Just Compensation Clause relating to eminent domain takings was " an essential element of due process of law ordained by the Fourteenth Amendment " to the point that a Chicago taking of railroad property was " within the meaning of that amendment " . In finding that application of the Due Process Clause , the Court said that just compensation constituted " a vital principle of republican institutions [ without which ] almost all other rights would become worthless " . 
