In the United States v. Bland case of 1930, the Supreme Court ruled on a matter involving tax evasion and fraud. The defendant, Bland, was accused of evading taxes by underreporting his income from illegal bootlegging activities during Prohibition. He argued that he could not be compelled to report this income without violating his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination since bootlegging was illegal at the time. However, the court rejected this argument stating that while an individual cannot be forced to disclose specific criminal acts in their tax returns, they are still required to pay taxes on all forms of income - legal or otherwise - and failure to do so constitutes tax evasion which is a separate crime altogether. Therefore, Bland's conviction for tax evasion was upheld.

The dissenting opinion in the United States v. Bland case argued that the majority's decision to uphold Bland's conviction was incorrect because it failed to consider important aspects of due process rights. The dissent emphasized that while Bland may have been guilty, his guilt should be determined through a fair and just trial process. They pointed out several procedural errors during the trial, including improper jury instructions and prejudicial statements made by prosecution witnesses which were not objected to or corrected by the court. These errors, they argued, violated Bland’s right to a fair trial as guaranteed under the Fifth Amendment of Constitution. Furthermore, they disagreed with majority’s interpretation of conspiracy law used for conviction arguing it was too broad and could potentially criminalize innocent behavior if applied indiscriminately in future cases.