In the 1945 case of Case, Commissioner of Public Lands of the State of Washington v. Bowles, Price Administrator et al., the U.S Supreme Court ruled on a dispute over timber price controls during World War II. The federal government had set maximum prices for goods and services to control inflation during wartime under the Emergency Price Control Act (EPCA). However, Washington state's Commissioner of Public Lands sold timber at a higher price than allowed by these regulations. When challenged by Chester Bowles, who was then serving as Federal Price Administrator responsible for enforcing EPCA rules, the commissioner argued that states were not subject to such federal laws due to their sovereignty rights. The Supreme Court disagreed with this argument and upheld that federal law superseded state law in this instance based on Supremacy Clause in Article VI of Constitution which establishes precedence or supremacy of federal law when there is conflict between state and national legislation. Therefore it held that even though states have sovereign powers they are still bound by applicable federal laws like any other entity or individual within United States.

In the dissenting opinion for Case, Commissioner of Public Lands of the State of Washington v. Bowles, Price Administrator et al., Justice Frank Murphy argued that the majority's decision to uphold federal price controls on state-owned timber was an unwarranted intrusion into states' rights. He contended that this interpretation expanded Congress’s power under the Commerce Clause too far and threatened to undermine principles of federalism by allowing federal regulation over a traditional area of state control: natural resources within its borders. Moreover, he expressed concern about potential implications for other areas where states traditionally have authority such as education or police powers if this precedent were followed in future cases. In his view, while wartime conditions might necessitate some expansion of federal power, it should not extend so far as to disrupt fundamental aspects of American constitutional structure like dual sovereignty between states and national government.