Let’s start with the basics: due process means the government can’t yank away your life, liberty, or property on a whim. It’s not just a friendly suggestion—it’s in Section 1 of the Fourteenth Amendment, written right after the Civil War because, you know, some states felt a little too creative about “rights.” The amendment laid down this ironclad rule: “No State shall deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law.” So, unless you have a thing for arbitrary punishment, you should care.
– Procedural due process says, “Hey, if the state wants to screw you, at LEAST give you notice and a hearing.”
– Substantive due process says, “Actually, the government can’t just pass any random law that tramples on your basic rights—no matter how many legislative hacks vote for it.”
And yes, before you ask, these are different. On paper, they’re supposed to work together for “fundamental fairness.” In reality, substantive due process is the real heavy hitter, blocking entire categories of laws—usually after someone gets run over by them first.
Everyone in the United States. Seriously. When the Constitution says “person,” it means anyone—citizens, non-citizens, even corporations when their lawyers whine enough. Sorry, your town local government? Nope. And sorry, government officials: you can’t use due process for your political feuds.
The government’s so-called “police power” lets them regulate health, safety, morals, and “general welfare,” but that doesn’t mean a free pass to bulldoze your life savings or freedom. Property isn’t just your crumbling house or aging Honda—it’s also money, contracts, and even your right to pursue a career. Liberty? Used to be just about contracts and where you work, but now it’s come to mean personal autonomy: privacy, bodily rights, who you marry—think marriage equality, reproductive freedom, and more. Scared yet? You should be if these clowns get their hands on your freedoms.
Most of the Bill of Rights now applies to states because the courts used the due process clause to slap them into line—ever heard of “selective incorporation”? Yeah, freedoms like free speech, free religion, and protection from your friendly neighborhood search-happy cop are now state-level rights—because otherwise, some states would happily take us back to the Stone Age. Equal protection, anyone?
States can make rules—taxes, zoning, business regs—but if they take it too far (like turning your home into a parking lot for “public safety”), they have to pay you or back off. If a law is arbitrary, oppressive, or not really related to public good, it’s toast. Economic regulations? Courts are slightly more chill now, which is why you have health inspections but also minimum wage. But mess with core liberties? The Supreme Court likes to intervene; see Roe, Obergefell, Loving v. Virginia, and, yes, all those abortion and marriage cases right-wingers want to erase.
The original “liberty of contract” era (hello, Lochner v. New York) was about courts blocking worker rights in the name of “economic freedom,” but since the Depression, substantive due process has protected things like bodily autonomy, contraception, abortion, marriage, and the right to be left the hell alone by government. Don’t let anyone gaslight you: These rights didn’t fall from the sky—they’re what’s left after courts fought the wild ambitions of state legislatures.
Without due process, your governor or mayor or state legislature could decide you don’t get to own property, have privacy, pick your job, love who you want, speak your mind—or even be free from arbitrary search or jail. Think that’s hyperbole? Check the history books. Or look at which politicians want to gut these rights every time they get triggered by social progress.
Due process isn’t just “paperwork before punishment.” It’s your last line of defense against the fever-dreams of state governments, bigots, or anyone who thinks your freedoms are negotiable. Don’t let anyone—whether in a red hat or bought-and-paid-for statehouse—try to take that away under the cynical banner of “public good.” Demand process. Demand fairness. Demand actual justice.
- Justia: Due Process of Law, Fourteenth Amendment
- Cornell Law School: Due Process
- Oyez: Roe v. Wade, 410 U.S. 113 (1973)
- Justia: Loving v. Virginia
- Cornell: Meyer v. Nebraska, 262 U.S. 390 (1923)
- Justia: Village of Euclid v. Ambler Realty Co.
- Justia: Planned Parenthood of Southeastern Pennsylvania v. Casey
- Justia: Obergefell v. Hodges
- ACLU: Due Process
- NY Times: Due Process News