In the case of People of the State of New York on the Relation of Kennedy v. Becker, 1915, a man named Kennedy was arrested for violating an excise law in New York and sentenced to imprisonment by a Special Sessions court. He appealed his conviction claiming that he had been denied due process because he did not have legal representation during his trial. The Supreme Court ruled against him stating that while defendants in capital cases were entitled to counsel under federal law, this right did not extend to misdemeanors or non-capital felonies under state laws at that time. Therefore, it held that there was no violation of due process rights as per Fourteenth Amendment since states could set their own procedures for criminal trials unless they were "fundamentally unfair". This decision reflected the prevailing view at the time which limited application of Bill Of Rights protections only to federal government actions.

In the dissenting opinion for PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK ON THE RELATION OF KENNEDY v. BECKER, Justice Holmes disagreed with the majority's decision to deny Kennedy habeas corpus relief. He argued that Kennedy had a constitutional right to be free from unlawful detention and that his extradition was based on an invalid warrant issued by a judge who lacked jurisdiction over him. Furthermore, he contended that even if there were procedural errors in obtaining the original arrest warrant, they should not preclude review of its validity when it is used as basis for extradition. The justice believed this case raised serious questions about due process rights and state sovereignty under federal law which deserved further examination by the court.