In the case of Pitney v. State of Washington, 1915, the United States Supreme Court upheld a conviction against Charles S. Pitney for practicing law in Washington state without being admitted to its bar association. The court ruled that states have the right to regulate and control legal practice within their borders as part of their police powers under the Tenth Amendment. This includes requiring lawyers from other states to pass local bar exams before they can practice law there. Mr.Pitney argued that this requirement violated his rights under Article IV's Privileges and Immunities Clause because he was already a member of New Jersey’s bar association but his argument was rejected by Justice Joseph McKenna who delivered opinion for unanimous court stating it did not infringe upon any fundamental privileges or immunities.

The dissenting opinion in the case of Pitney v. State of Washington argued that the law under scrutiny, which prohibited employment agencies from charging fees to job seekers, was unconstitutional. The justice contended that this legislation violated the Fourteenth Amendment's due process clause by unduly interfering with private contractual relationships and impeding individuals' freedom to engage in lawful occupations. He asserted that while states have a right to regulate businesses for public welfare, they cannot arbitrarily interfere with personal liberty or property rights without a justifiable reason related directly to public health, safety or morals. In his view, there was no such justification here as employment agencies provide valuable services by connecting employers and workers; their fee-charging practices were not inherently harmful or exploitative but rather constituted fair compensation for these services. Thus he believed the law represented an unwarranted intrusion into free enterprise and individual liberties protected by constitutional principles.