The Lang v. Commissioner of Internal Revenue case in 1937 revolved around the issue of estate tax liability. The Supreme Court was asked to determine whether or not a widow's life interest in her husband's estate, which she had renounced after his death, should be included when calculating the value of that estate for federal tax purposes. The court ruled that it should be included because at the time of her husband’s death, she held an enforceable right to this property under state law and thus it was part of his gross estate regardless if she later chose to relinquish those rights. This decision established a precedent for how similar cases would be handled in future with respect to taxation laws.

In the dissenting opinion for Lang, Executor, et al. v. Commissioner of Internal Revenue (1937), Justice Cardozo disagreed with the majority's decision to allow a tax deduction for an estate that had been transferred in trust before death but was still subject to federal estate taxes after death. He argued that this interpretation contradicted Congress' intent when drafting the relevant legislation and would lead to unjust results by allowing wealthy individuals to avoid paying their fair share of taxes through strategic use of trusts and other legal mechanisms. Furthermore, he asserted that such deductions should only be allowed if they were explicitly provided for in law or if there was clear evidence supporting their necessity from a policy perspective.