In the case of Grubbs, DBA T. R. Grubbs Tire & Appliance v. General Electric Credit Corp., 1971, the U.S Supreme Court was tasked with determining whether a creditor could repossess goods sold on credit without breaching peace or resorting to judicial process under Article 9 of Uniform Commercial Code (UCC). The dispute arose when General Electric Credit Corporation (GECC) attempted to repossess appliances from T.R Grubbs Tire and Appliance after they defaulted on their payments. GECC argued that it had a right to do so under its security agreement with Grubbs and as per UCC provisions. The court ruled in favor of GECC stating that self-help repossession by creditors is permissible if it can be done without breach of peace or use of force according to Section 9-503 of the U.C.C.. This decision set an important precedent for future cases involving secured transactions and debtor-creditor relations.

In the dissenting opinion for Grubbs v. General Electric Credit Corp., Justice Douglas argued that the majority's decision to uphold a repossession without prior notice or hearing violated due process rights under the Fourteenth Amendment. He contended that such an action was essentially a deprivation of property, and thus should be subject to procedural protections. Furthermore, he criticized the majority's reliance on commercial convenience as justification for bypassing these constitutional safeguards, asserting that this reasoning could potentially lead to further erosions of individual rights in favor of business interests. Ultimately, Justice Douglas believed that individuals should not be subjected to arbitrary seizures by private entities without any form of legal recourse or protection.