In the case of Ellis v. United States (1957), the U.S Supreme Court ruled on an issue related to jury selection in a criminal trial. The defendant, Ellis, argued that his conviction for bank robbery should be overturned because African Americans were systematically excluded from both the grand and petit juries that indicted and convicted him respectively. He claimed this was a violation of his constitutional rights under the Fifth Amendment's due process clause and Sixth Amendment's right to an impartial jury clause. The Supreme Court agreed with Ellis' argument about racial discrimination in jury selection but did not overturn his conviction as he had failed to raise these objections before or during his trial at lower courts; hence it was deemed waived according to federal procedural rules then in effect. This decision underscored two important principles: firstly, it affirmed that systematic exclusion of any racial group from juries is unconstitutional; secondly, it highlighted defendants must timely assert their rights or risk losing them through waiver.

In the dissenting opinion for Ellis v. United States, Justice Brennan disagreed with the majority's decision to uphold the defendants' convictions under a federal law prohibiting conspiracy to defraud the U.S. government of its right to have its affairs conducted honestly. He argued that this interpretation of the statute was too broad and could potentially criminalize any dishonest act, even if it did not result in financial or property loss for the government. Furthermore, he contended that such an expansive reading of "defraud" would violate principles of fair notice because individuals could not reasonably anticipate what conduct might be deemed illegal under this standard. Therefore, Justice Brennan believed that only schemes intended to cause economic or property harm should fall within scope of this law.