What Precedent Did Gitlow v. New York Establish?

Gitlow v. New York (1925) established the landmark precedent that the First Amendment's free speech protections apply to state governments through the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.

Before this ruling, the Bill of Rights constrained only the federal government. The Supreme Court held that "freedom of speech and of the press... are among the fundamental personal rights and liberties protected by the due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment from impairment by the States."

This began the incorporation doctrine—the gradual, case-by-case application of most Bill of Rights protections to state and local governments. While Gitlow's own conviction under New York's criminal anarchy law was upheld, the constitutional principle announced transformed American civil liberties jurisprudence.