In the 1892 case May v. Tenney, the United States Supreme Court ruled on a dispute involving property rights and inheritance law. The plaintiff, May, claimed that he was entitled to certain properties as an heir of his deceased uncle's estate. However, the defendant Tenney argued that she had acquired these properties through her late husband who bought them from a trustee appointed by court during insolvency proceedings initiated by May's uncle before his death. The Supreme Court held in favor of Tenney stating that once assets are transferred to a trustee under bankruptcy or insolvency laws they become part of public domain and can be legally sold off to pay creditors' claims even if it is later discovered that there were no debts owed at all or if such transfer was fraudulent with respect to heirs apparent or presumptive who did not exist when such transfers took place.

The dissenting opinion in the case of May v. Tenney, 1892, argued that the majority's decision to uphold a New York law prohibiting non-residents from selling goods within state borders without first obtaining a license was unconstitutional. The dissent contended that this law violated both the Commerce Clause and Equal Protection Clause of the U.S Constitution by discriminating against out-of-state merchants and restricting interstate commerce. They believed that such protectionist measures were not only unfair but also detrimental to free trade among states, which is one of the fundamental principles upon which our nation was built. Furthermore, they asserted that it was not within a state's rights to impose such restrictions on non-residents while allowing its own residents unrestricted access to markets.