The Coleman v. Miller case in 1938 revolved around the ratification of the Child Labor Amendment by Kansas, which was challenged by twenty state legislators who had voted against it. They argued that too much time had passed since Congress proposed the amendment in 1924 for it to be ratified validly and that not enough states were participating in its ratification. The Supreme Court ruled against them, stating they did not have standing to sue as individual legislators because their votes would not have changed the outcome even if counted differently. Furthermore, on deciding whether an amendment has been ratified within a reasonable time or whether enough states are participating is up to Congress rather than courts.

In the dissenting opinion for Coleman et al. v. Miller, Secretary of the Senate of The State of Kansas, et al., Justice Butler argued that the Child Labor Amendment had expired and was no longer open for ratification by states because a reasonable time had passed since its proposal in 1924. He believed that Congress did not have unlimited time to secure ratification and cited previous cases where proposed amendments were considered dead after a certain period due to lack of action or interest from state legislatures. Furthermore, he asserted that it is unconstitutional for Congress alone to decide whether an amendment has been ratified within a reasonable timeframe without judicial review as this would violate separation-of-powers principles. Lastly, he disagreed with allowing legislators who voted on an issue to later judge their own actions when disputes arise over those votes' legality.