In Boyd v. United States, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that a search and seizure of business records violated the Fourth Amendment's protection against unreasonable searches and seizures as well as the Fifth Amendment's prohibition on self-incrimination. The case involved a federal law requiring businesses to produce any books or invoices related to imported goods when requested by court officials; failure to do so would be considered an admission of guilt for fraud charges brought by the government. The court found this law unconstitutional because it forced individuals to provide evidence against themselves in criminal cases, which is prohibited under the Fifth Amendment, while also allowing government intrusion into private property without proper justification or warrant, violating Fourth Amendment rights.

In the dissenting opinion for Boyd v. United States, Justice Stanley Matthews argued that the majority's interpretation of the Fourth and Fifth Amendments was too broad. He contended that these amendments were designed to protect against physical searches and seizures, not subpoenas or orders to produce documents in court proceedings. Furthermore, he disagreed with the notion that compelling a person to produce business papers could be considered self-incrimination under the Fifth Amendment. In his view, this amendment only protected individuals from being forced to provide testimonial evidence against themselves; it did not extend protection over their private papers or possessions used as evidence in legal proceedings.