The U.S. Supreme Court case Johnson v. United States in 1911 revolved around the issue of whether a search warrant could be issued based on an affidavit that did not establish probable cause, and if evidence obtained through such a warrant was admissible in court. The defendant, Fremont Weeks, had been convicted for sending lottery tickets through the mail after officers entered his home without a valid search warrant and seized papers used as evidence against him at trial. On appeal to the Supreme Court, it was determined that this action violated Weeks' Fourth Amendment rights protecting against unreasonable searches and seizures. This landmark decision established what is known as the "exclusionary rule," which prohibits federal courts from admitting illegally obtained evidence during criminal prosecutions.

In the dissenting opinion for Johnson v. United States, it was argued that the majority's decision to uphold a conviction based on evidence obtained through an unlawful search and seizure violated the Fourth Amendment rights of the defendant. The dissenting justices believed that any evidence obtained in such a manner should be deemed inadmissible in court as it is tainted by illegality from its inception. They contended that allowing such evidence would incentivize law enforcement officers to engage in illegal searches with impunity, thereby undermining citizens' constitutional protections against unreasonable searches and seizures. Furthermore, they asserted that upholding convictions based on illegally-obtained evidence erodes public trust in the justice system by creating an impression of judicial complicity with unconstitutional police conduct.