In the 1987 case Boyle, Personal Representative of the Heirs and Estate of Boyle v. United Technologies Corp., the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that federal law shields military contractors from certain kinds of liability in connection with their production of defective products for the armed services. The decision came after a Marine helicopter crash killed David A. Boyle, whose father then sued Sikorsky Aircraft Division (a subsidiary of United Technologies Corporation) alleging design defects in its CH-53D Sea Stallion helicopter caused his son's death during a rescue mission off Virginia Beach in 1982. The court held that if a contractor can demonstrate three conditions: it manufactured to precise government specifications; those specifications were reasonably precise; and supplier warned U.S about dangers known but not obvious to government - then state tort suits are preempted by federal common law under what is now referred as "Boyle's Law". This ruling effectively protected defense contractors from being held liable for design defects when following government specs.

In the dissenting opinion for Boyle v. United Technologies Corp., Justice William Brennan, joined by Justices Thurgood Marshall and John Paul Stevens, argued that the majority's decision to create a federal common law defense in this case was an overreach of judicial power. They contended that it is Congress' role to make such determinations about government contractor immunity from liability, not the courts'. The dissenters also disagreed with the majority's interpretation of previous cases as establishing precedent for a federal common law rule shielding contractors from state tort liability when they have complied with detailed government specifications. Instead, they believed these cases merely reflected traditional principles of contract law or specific statutory provisions granting immunity. Furthermore, they expressed concern that this ruling could potentially shield negligent contractors from any accountability for their actions.