Barron v. Baltimore

Barron v. Baltimore, 32 U.S. (7 Pet.) 243 (1833), is a landmark decision of the United States Supreme Court.

John Barron owned a wharf in Baltimore harbor. City street construction deposited sediment that made the water too shallow for his wharf to operate. Barron sued, claiming the city’s actions deprived him of property without just compensation in violation of the Fifth Amendment. The Baltimore court ruled for the city, and Barron appealed to the Supreme Court.

Significance

Chief Justice Marshall held that the Bill of Rights applied only to the federal government, not to the states. This ’non-incorporation’ doctrine meant that state governments were not bound by the first eight amendments. The decision stood for nearly a century until the Fourteenth Amendment’s Due Process Clause was interpreted to ‘incorporate’ most Bill of Rights protections against the states, beginning with Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad v. City of Chicago (1897) and accelerating in the 20th century.

Category

US Federal Case Law