In Anderson v. Nelson, Warden (1967), the Supreme Court of the United States ruled on a case involving an inmate's right to access legal materials and resources while incarcerated. The petitioner, Anderson, was serving a life sentence in prison and had been denied access to certain law books by the warden of his facility. He argued that this denial violated his constitutional rights under the Fourteenth Amendment's Equal Protection Clause because other inmates were allowed such access. The court held that there was no violation of equal protection as all prisoners were treated equally - none were permitted direct personal access to legal reference materials but could have their legal questions answered through consultation with attorneys or by submitting written inquiries which would be researched for them. This decision affirmed that prisons can restrict inmates' direct physical contact with certain items like law books if they provide alternative means for accessing necessary information.

In the dissenting opinion for Anderson v. Nelson, Warden, 1967, Justice Harlan disagreed with the majority's decision to reverse and remand the case back to state court without first addressing its merits. He argued that this approach was inconsistent with previous Supreme Court decisions and unnecessarily delayed justice for the petitioner. Furthermore, he believed that it undermined federal habeas corpus jurisdiction by suggesting that such cases should always be returned to state courts before being heard in federal court. In his view, if a prisoner has exhausted all available remedies at the state level as required by law then they have every right to seek relief in federal court immediately thereafter without having their case sent back down again.