The Substantive Due Process Clause described as requiring court to review the substance of federal law rather than the procedure is part of which amendment?

• A. The Fifth Amendment
• B. The Fourth Amendment
• C. The Sixth Amendment
• D. The First Amendment

Answer: (A)

Substantive due process protects fundamental rights by looking at what the law actually does, not just whether the procedures were followed. Courts review whether a federal law intrudes on essential liberties in a way that can't be justified by process alone, focusing on the law’s substance. This framework comes from the Due Process Clause found in the federal Constitution's Fifth Amendment. (The Fourteenth Amendment later extends the same idea to actions by the states.) The other amendments address different areas—unreasonable searches and seizures, rights at trial, or freedom of expression—and do not establish this particular substantive review of federal laws.