In the 1938 case of McCrone v. United States, the Supreme Court ruled on a matter involving tax evasion. The defendant, McCrone, had been charged with willfully attempting to evade taxes by filing false and fraudulent income tax returns for three years in succession. He was convicted in lower courts and appealed his conviction to the Supreme Court arguing that there wasn't enough evidence to support his conviction as well as claiming errors in instructions given to jury members during trial proceedings. The Supreme Court upheld McCrone's convictions stating that it found no error which would justify reversing them. It held that there was sufficient evidence presented at trial demonstrating intent on part of McCrone to defraud government through submission of false income statements; thus supporting charges against him for attempted tax evasion under federal law. Moreover, court also dismissed claims regarding erroneous instructions provided to jury asserting they were adequately instructed about need for proof beyond reasonable doubt concerning defendant’s guilt including specific intent required under statute defining offense.

In the dissenting opinion for McCrone v. United States, Justice McReynolds disagreed with the majority's interpretation of Section 215 of the National Industrial Recovery Act (NIRA). He argued that this section did not intend to criminalize all violations of codes approved under NIRA but only those specifically identified as unfair methods of competition. The justice believed that a broader interpretation would make it impossible for individuals to know what conduct might be considered illegal and thus violate their due process rights. Furthermore, he contended that if Congress had intended such an expansive reading, they would have clearly stated so in the legislation itself rather than leaving it up to judicial interpretation. Therefore, he concluded that McCrone should not have been convicted merely for violating a code provision without evidence showing his actions constituted an unfair method of competition.