ABSTRACT
This chapter explores a constitutional path along the ribbon of time stretching from the founding of the country all the way to the present, through a lens focused on the Bill of Rights and the Fourteenth Amendment. Local officials can find enrichment in understanding that these constitutional provisions secure critical protections of individual rights against actions of the government – including a local government. The Bill of Rights was originally adopted to protect individuals against actions of the federal government. The Fourteenth Amendment has been interpreted by the Court as making the bulk of the Bill of Rights to also protect individual liberties against actions of the states. The expansion of liberty rights to also protect people from the actions of their own state governments began in 1868, when the Fourteenth Amendment was ratified. A special meaning has been developed in constitutional law for the term "fundamental right".
