In Hodges v. United States, the Supreme Court ruled on a case involving an individual who was convicted of knowingly transporting stolen goods across state lines. The defendant, Mr. Hodges, argued that he did not know the goods were stolen at the time of transport and only became aware after delivery had been made. He contended that his conviction should be overturned because it is necessary to prove knowledge of theft at the time of transportation for a violation under federal law (18 U.S.C.A §2314). However, in its decision issued in 1961, the Supreme Court disagreed with this interpretation and upheld Mr. Hodges' conviction by stating that if someone transports goods they later discover are stolen and then takes steps to dispose or sell them off rather than reporting it to authorities immediately upon discovery can still be held liable under §2314 as long as there's evidence showing intent to commit fraud.

In the dissenting opinion for Hodges v. United States, Justice Whittaker argued that the majority's decision to uphold Hodges' conviction was a misinterpretation of the law and an overreach of federal power. He contended that Congress did not intend for Section 242 (Title 18) to apply in cases where private individuals conspired to deprive others of their civil rights without state involvement or under color of any statute, ordinance, regulation or custom. According to him, this interpretation would make every private act potentially subject to federal jurisdiction if it could be construed as denying someone else's constitutional rights - a situation he believed Congress never intended when drafting the legislation. Furthermore, he pointed out inconsistencies between this case and previous ones where similar charges were dismissed due to lack of state action. Therefore, he concluded that Hodges' conviction should have been reversed because his actions were purely private with no connection whatsoever with any state action.