In the United States Supreme Court case of The United States, Plaintiffs in Error vs. Thomas Buford, Defendant in Error, the court was asked to decide whether a state could prosecute an individual for a crime committed on federal land. In this case, Thomas Buford had been convicted by a jury in Kentucky of stealing horses from Fort Finney and sentenced to two years’ imprisonment. The US government argued that since the theft occurred on federal property it should be prosecuted under federal law rather than state law. However, the Supreme Court ruled against them and held that states have jurisdiction over crimes committed within their borders regardless of where they occur as long as there is no conflict with existing laws or treaties between nations. This ruling established precedent for future cases involving criminal activity occurring on federally owned lands and set forth clear guidelines regarding which level of government has authority over such matters.

In the case of The United States vs. Thomas Buford, the Supreme Court was tasked with determining whether a federal court had jurisdiction to try an individual for murder committed on Native American land. Justice Story wrote a dissenting opinion in which he argued that Congress had not given any authority to federal courts to exercise criminal jurisdiction over offenses committed by non-Indians against Indians within Indian country. He further noted that such power could only be granted through legislation and since no such law existed, it would be unconstitutional for the court to assume this power without congressional authorization. Furthermore, he argued that if Congress intended for these crimes to be tried in federal courts then they should have explicitly stated so when passing laws related to Indian affairs or when creating new territories out of Indian lands. In conclusion, Justice Story concluded that due process must prevail and therefore the defendant should not have been tried in a federal court as there was no legal basis upon which it could do so at the time of his trial.