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Why does the First Amendment apply to state and local laws?

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For all practical purposes, the Courts have made it so that First Amendment doctrine applies in an equal way to the state and federal governments. But as a pure matter of legal theory, the First Amendment applies only to federal action, while state action is covered by the Fourteenth. read more

Many theocrats insist that the first amendment only applies to the federal government and local governments can mix church and state. Many theocrats insist that the first amendment only applies to the federal government and local governments can mix church and state. read more

Since then the U.S. Supreme Court has gradually used the due process clause to apply most of the Bill of Rights to state governments. In particular, from the 1920s to the ’40s the Supreme Court applied all the clauses of the First Amendment to the states. Thus, the First Amendment now covers actions by federal, state, and local governments. read more

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