Gitlow v New York was a 1925 Supreme Court case that established the principle of "incorporation," which extended the protections of the Bill of Rights to the states. The case involved Benjamin Gitlow, a socialist who was arrested and convicted for distributing a manifesto calling for the overthrow of the government. The Supreme Court ruled that the First Amendment's protection of free speech applied to the states, and that the state of New York had violated Gitlow's rights by punishing him for his speech. This ruling was the first time the Supreme Court had applied the Bill of Rights to the states, and it set a precedent for the incorporation of other constitutional rights.
