This Supreme Court case involved a dispute between Martin Luther and Luther M. Borden over the title to land in Rhode Island. The original owner of the property had died without leaving a will, so it was unclear who owned the land. In 1842, Borden took possession of the property and began making improvements on it while Luther claimed he was entitled to ownership due to his relationship with one of the heirs of the deceased owner. The lower court ruled in favor of Borden but this decision was appealed by Luther all way up to Supreme Court where they reversed that ruling and found that he did indeed have rightful claim to ownership based on his relationship with an heir as well as other evidence presented during trial proceedings.

In the case of Martin Luther v. Luther M. Borden et al., the dissenting opinion was that a state's right to self-governance should be respected and upheld, even if it means overturning an earlier decision by another court. The majority had held that Rhode Island did not have the power to decide its own militia laws, but Justice McLean argued that this would set a dangerous precedent for other states' rights in general. He believed that each state should be allowed to make decisions about their own internal affairs without interference from federal courts or Congress, as long as they do not violate any constitutional provisions or infringe on individual liberties protected by law. Furthermore, he argued that there were no clear legal precedents which supported the majority's ruling and thus it could potentially lead to further confusion regarding how much authority states actually possess over their own matters.