In the case of Cox et al., Administrators, et al. v. Roth, Administrator (1954), the U.S Supreme Court ruled on a dispute involving inheritance laws and their application to non-resident aliens. The decedent was a resident of California who left his estate to relatives in Switzerland, which at that time did not have reciprocal rights with the United States regarding inheritance by non-resident aliens. As such, under California law, these heirs were ineligible to inherit from an American citizen's estate unless they became residents within five years after death or if Switzerland granted similar rights to US citizens. The Swiss heirs challenged this law as unconstitutional but lost in both lower courts before appealing to the Supreme Court. The court held that while states can discriminate against nonresident aliens when it comes to property distribution upon death due its sovereignty over property within its borders; however it cannot do so arbitrarily without violating equal protection clause of Fourteenth Amendment. Therefore, since there was no rational basis for discriminating between resident and nonresident alien beneficiaries based solely on whether their home country has reciprocity agreement with US or not - especially given fact that treaty negotiations are beyond control of individual beneficiaries - state statute was struck down as unconstitutional.

In the dissenting opinion for Cox et al., Administrators, et al. v. Roth, Administrator (1954), Justice Robert H. Jackson argued that the majority's decision to uphold a state law allowing wrongful death claims against federal employees was flawed and inconsistent with previous rulings of the Court. He contended that this ruling would lead to an uneven application of justice across states due to variations in state laws regarding wrongful death suits, which could potentially result in unfair treatment of federal employees depending on where they were stationed or working at any given time. Furthermore, he expressed concern over potential interference with federal operations if such lawsuits became commonplace as it might deter qualified individuals from seeking employment with the government out of fear for personal liability risks.