In the case of Gibbs v. Burke, Warden (1948), the United States Supreme Court ruled that a state court's decision to deny a habeas corpus petition does not prevent federal courts from considering such petitions. The petitioner, Gibbs, was convicted in Pennsylvania for first-degree murder and sentenced to death. He filed a writ of habeas corpus in federal court after his appeals were denied by the state courts on grounds that he had been denied due process because he was not allowed counsel during police interrogation and arraignment proceedings. The district court dismissed his petition without hearing it on merits as they believed it should have been presented to the state courts first before being brought up at federal level according to comity principles - respect between different jurisdictions within legal system. The Supreme Court reversed this decision stating that while considerations of comity require giving respectful consideration to states' views about their own laws, they do not demand complete deference or surrendering jurisdiction over cases involving constitutional rights violations claims just because similar issues are pending in state tribunals or have been decided adversely thereunder.

In the dissenting opinion for Gibbs v. Burke, Warden, Justice Frankfurter disagreed with the majority's decision to reverse and remand the case back to a lower court. He argued that there was no need for further proceedings because all relevant facts had already been established in previous trials and appeals. Furthermore, he believed that even if new evidence were introduced at this stage of litigation it would not change the outcome of the case due to its nature and weight against Gibbs' claims of innocence. He also criticized his colleagues for failing to adhere strictly enough to principles of federalism by intervening too much in state criminal cases without sufficient justification or necessity.