First, and most obviously, it is the source of Procedural Due Process rights. Next, the amendment requires states not to “deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law.” This Due Process Clause, as it’s known, is a wellspring of rights. While occasionally, and even recently, this clause is referenced or somewhat revived, it remains relatively hollow. It continues by requiring states not to interfere with the “ privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States.” This clause, while sounding grand in scope, has been interpreted quite narrowly to only provide those few rights held by the Court to be inherent to citizenship of the country as a whole, such as access to ports, protection on the high seas, the ability to run for federal office, and the right to travel. Sanford(1857), where the Court denied that most basic of promises to African Americans. For an explanation of the sometimes blurry lines between government and private actors, see Government and Private Action.Turning to this section, it begins by guaranteeing birthright citizenship for all, finally overturning the blight that was the Supreme Court’s decision in Dred Scott v. For there to be a violation of the Constitution under any of its provisions, there must be some government actor. It is the giant sequoia of Constitutional Law.By way of introduction, it should be noted that the 14th Amendment as a whole does not apply to private actors. Within a few lines of text, rights and guarantees grow outward like leaves and branches on a tree. The cornerstone of these Reconstruction Amendments, as they were called, is arguably this section of the 14th Amendment. In the wake of the Civil War, several amendments to the Constitution were added to remedy some of the societal problems that had led to that war.
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