In Bradley v. United States (1971), the Supreme Court ruled on a case involving the legality of an airport tax imposed by the city of Spokane, Washington. The plaintiffs argued that this tax was unconstitutional as it interfered with interstate commerce and violated their Fifth Amendment rights to due process and equal protection under law. However, the court disagreed with these arguments, upholding the constitutionality of such taxes in a 6-3 decision. The majority opinion held that local governments have authority to impose fees for use of facilities like airports so long as they are reasonable and not discriminatory against out-of-state entities or individuals. They also found no violation of due process or equal protection since all users were charged equally regardless of whether they were residents or non-residents. This ruling affirmed municipalities' right to levy user fees for public services without infringing upon constitutional protections related to interstate commerce, due process, or equal protection.

In the dissenting opinion for Bradley v. United States, Justice William O. Douglas argued that the majority's interpretation of a statute related to counterfeit obligations was overly broad and inconsistent with legislative intent. He contended that Congress intended to criminalize only those actions involving actual counterfeiting or forgery, not mere possession of counterfeit money without knowledge of its illegitimacy. Furthermore, he criticized the majority's reliance on an earlier case (Rabe v. Washington), stating it was irrelevant as it dealt with a different law altogether - one concerning securities fraud rather than counterfeiting currency. In his view, this misapplication could lead to unjust outcomes where innocent individuals unknowingly in possession of counterfeit money could be criminally prosecuted under federal law.