In the case of United States v. Johnston in 1924, the Supreme Court ruled on an issue related to income tax evasion. The defendant, Johnston, was charged with willfully attempting to evade and defeat his income tax for a particular year by filing a false and fraudulent return. He argued that he could not be prosecuted because the statute of limitations had expired. However, the government contended that since he filed a false return with intent to evade taxes, it constituted as an ongoing offense until discovered by authorities; thus extending the limitation period. The court held in favor of Johnston stating that under existing law at that time (Revenue Act), any person who attempted to defeat or evade any tax imposed should be guilty from when they committed such act(s). Therefore, if more than three years had passed since committing these acts before being indicted or information laid against them - regardless whether their actions were known/unknown - then prosecution would be barred due to expiration of statutory limitation period. This ruling clarified how statutes of limitations applied in cases involving attempts to defraud federal revenue collection efforts through falsification or concealment.

In the dissenting opinion for United States v. Johnston, it was argued that the majority's decision to uphold a conviction based on evidence obtained through wiretapping violated the Fourth Amendment rights of the defendant. The dissenting justices believed that this form of surveillance constituted an unreasonable search and seizure, as there had been no warrant issued for such actions. They also expressed concerns about potential abuses of power by law enforcement agencies if they were allowed to use wiretaps without any legal oversight or restrictions. Furthermore, they disagreed with the majority's interpretation of what constitutes "interception" under federal law, arguing that listening in on private conversations should be considered interception even if those conversations are not physically recorded or transcribed.