Supreme Court of the United States

Palko v. Connecticut

December 6, 1937302 U.S. 319

Summary

Justice Cardozo's opinion held that Connecticut could permit the prosecution to appeal substantial legal errors and retry the defendant without violating the Fourteenth Amendment, even though the second trial resulted in a first-degree murder conviction and a death sentence. The Fourteenth Amendment does not automatically incorporate every protection in the Bill of Rights; it protects rights fundamental to ordered liberty. The particular retrial here did not offend that standard, and the Court also rejected the privileges or immunities challenge. The judgment was affirmed. Justice Butler dissented without a written opinion.

Holding

  • Whether the Fourteenth Amendment incorporates all protections of the Bill of Rights against the states.. The Fourteenth Amendment does not automatically incorporate every protection in the first eight amendments; protections apply against the states when they are implicit in the concept of ordered liberty.
  • Whether Connecticut's prosecution appeal and resulting retrial denied due process.. A retrial following a prosecution appeal to correct substantial legal errors did not deny due process in these circumstances.
  • Whether the conviction violated the Fourteenth Amendment's Privileges or Immunities Clause.. The conviction did not infringe privileges or immunities belonging to the defendant as a citizen of the United States.

Docket 135

Cited authorities

  • 28 U.S.C., § 344
  • 25 Yale L.J. 255
  • 39 Harv. L. Rev. 431

Cited by

Read full opinionPDF