In the 1900 case Goetze v. United States, the Supreme Court ruled on a matter involving customs duties. The petitioner, Goetze, imported iron into Baltimore and was charged with a duty under paragraph 167 of the Tariff Act of July 24th, 1897. However, he argued that his goods should have been classified under paragraph 193 which would result in lower duties being imposed upon him. The Board of General Appraisers disagreed with this classification and their decision was upheld by both the Circuit Court and Circuit Court of Appeals. Goetze then appealed to the Supreme Court arguing that there had been an error in interpreting paragraphs from two different acts - one from March 3rd,1891 (which created Board of General Appraisers) and another from June10th ,1890 (which provided for review). He claimed these errors resulted in depriving him due process rights as guaranteed by Fifth Amendment. The Supreme court rejected his arguments stating that no such deprivation occurred because he had ample opportunity to present evidence before board & courts below regarding correct classification for his goods; thus affirming previous rulings.

In the dissenting opinion for Goetze v. United States, the justice argued that the majority's decision was flawed because it failed to consider important aspects of international law and treaty obligations. The justice contended that under these principles, a nation has an obligation not to interfere with another country's vessels in international waters unless there is reasonable suspicion of wrongdoing. In this case, he believed that such suspicion did not exist when U.S authorities seized Goetze’s vessel on high seas without any evidence of illegal activity or intent to violate customs laws. He also pointed out inconsistencies in how similar cases had been handled previously by American courts which further undermined his confidence in the majority ruling. Therefore, he concluded that Goetze should have been allowed to proceed unmolested until she reached her destination or entered US territorial waters where proper inspection could be conducted according to established legal procedures.