In the 1952 case Tinder v. United States, the Supreme Court ruled on an issue of tax law involving a taxpayer's right to deduct losses from his income tax return. The petitioner, Charles E. Tinder, had purchased stock in two corporations that subsequently became insolvent and worthless within the same year. He claimed these as capital losses on his federal income tax return but was denied by the Commissioner of Internal Revenue who argued that they were non-business debts and thus not deductible under Section 23(k)(4) of the Internal Revenue Code. The Supreme Court upheld this decision with Justice Burton delivering its opinion stating that since Mr.Tinder did not acquire those stocks for profit-making purposes or as part of his trade or business but rather for personal reasons (to help out friends), he could not claim them as business bad debts which are fully deductible unlike nonbusiness bad debts which are only partially deductible.

In the dissenting opinion for Tinder v. United States, Justice Minton argued that the majority's decision was inconsistent with previous rulings of the Court and undermined constitutional protections against self-incrimination. He contended that by allowing a witness to be convicted for contempt of court after refusing to answer questions on grounds of potential self-incrimination, even when immunity from prosecution had been granted, effectively nullified Fifth Amendment rights. According to him, such an approach would force witnesses into a "cruel trilemma" - perjure themselves; admit guilt and face public scorn or punishment in other forms (such as loss of employment); or refuse to answer and risk being held in contempt. Furthermore, he believed it was not within Congress' power to compel testimony by granting immunity because this violated fundamental principles underlying the privilege against self-incrimination – namely respecting individuals’ privacy and dignity by preventing them from being forced into making disclosures about their personal lives which they might later regret.