There is ample historical evidence that the purpose of the Fourteenth Amendment, and particularly the Privileges or Immunities Clause, was not merely to provide for the mechanistic “incorporation” of the first eight amendments (it would have been easy enough to say so), but instead to redress a whole host of laws, practices, customs, and mores whose common purpose was to destroy the ability of newly freed slaves to become self-sufficient members of society. p. 12
They argue that incorporation is not only unneccesary but disingenuous, since the 14th Amendment (particularly Privileges or Immunities) was meant to protect a "pre-existing right." Philosophically, they're absolutely correct.
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