All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.
Due process under the Fourteenth Amendment can be broken down into two categories: procedural due process and substantive due process. Relevant issues, as discussed in detail below, include notice, opportunity for hearing, confrontation and cross-examination, discovery, basis of decision, and availability of counsel. Substantive due process has generally dealt with specific subject areas, such as liberty of contract or privacy, and over time has alternately emphasized the importance of economic and noneconomic matters.
In theory, the issues of procedural and substantive due process are closely related. Although the extent of the rights protected by substantive due process may be controversial, its theoretical basis is firmly established and forms the basis for much of modern constitutional case law.
Though application of these rights against the states is no longer controversial, the incorporation of other substantive rights, as is discussed in detail below, has been. Further, there is no doubt that a corporation may not be deprived of its property without due process of law. A separate question is the ability of a government official to invoke the Due Process Clause to protect the interests of his office.
Ordinarily, the mere official interest of a public officer, such as the interest in enforcing a law, has not been deemed adequate to enable him to challenge the constitutionality of a law under the Fourteenth Amendment. An ulterior public advantage, however, may justify a comparatively insignificant taking of private property for what seems to be a private use.
