In the 1904 case of Slavens v. United States, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled on a matter involving land patents and mining claims in Alaska. The plaintiff, Slavens, claimed that he had been unlawfully dispossessed of his property by the defendant who was acting under an invalid patent issued by the government for a mining claim. However, it was found that Slavens did not have legal title to this land at any point as he failed to comply with statutory requirements necessary for obtaining such title from public lands open to mineral entry. Therefore, even though there were irregularities in how the defendant obtained their patent from government officials - including allegations of fraud and conspiracy - these issues could not be raised by someone without proper legal standing or interest in said property rights dispute.

In the dissenting opinion for Slavens v. United States, Justice Harlan argued that the majority's decision to uphold a conviction based on evidence obtained through an illegal search and seizure was fundamentally flawed. He contended that it violated the Fourth Amendment rights of individuals against unreasonable searches and seizures. Harlan believed that any evidence procured in such a manner should be deemed inadmissible in court as its acquisition infringes upon constitutional protections afforded to citizens. The justice further asserted that allowing this kind of evidence would incentivize law enforcement officers to disregard individual rights with impunity, leading to potential abuses of power. Therefore, he dissented from his colleagues' ruling which upheld such practices.