In Alston v. United States (1926), the U.S Supreme Court addressed a case involving an African American man, William H. Alston, who was convicted of murder in Washington D.C., and sentenced to death by hanging. The defense argued that his constitutional rights were violated because he was not tried by a jury of his peers; the jury consisted only of white individuals while no black person had served on a grand or petit jury in Washington D.C for over 20 years due to systemic exclusion based on race. However, the Supreme Court upheld Alston's conviction with Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes writing for the majority opinion stating that there was insufficient evidence proving systematic racial discrimination within the District’s juror selection process at that time period.

In the dissenting opinion for Alston v. United States, Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. disagreed with the majority's decision to uphold Alston's conviction based on evidence obtained through a warrantless search of his home. He argued that this violated the Fourth Amendment protection against unreasonable searches and seizures. Holmes contended that while there may be exceptions in cases where immediate action is necessary, such as preventing destruction of evidence or danger to officers, these circumstances did not apply in Alston’s case because no urgent situation existed at the time of entry into his house by law enforcement officials without a warrant. Therefore, he believed that any evidence collected during this unlawful intrusion should have been excluded from trial proceedings due to its unconstitutional acquisition.