In the United States v. Mason case of 1908, the Supreme Court ruled on a dispute involving land ownership in Oklahoma. The plaintiff, Mason, claimed that he had purchased a plot of land from an individual who had received it as part of an allotment under the Dawes Act (an act which granted lands to Native Americans). However, this sale was made before the expiration of a statutory period during which such sales were prohibited by law. The defendant argued that because this initial sale was illegal and voided by federal law at its inception due to violation of restrictions imposed by Congress on alienation or transferability for certain periods after allotment, any subsequent transactions including his purchase should also be considered invalid. In response to these arguments, Justice David Brewer delivered the opinion for a unanimous court stating that while original transaction may have been voidable rather than absolutely null and void since it could potentially be ratified later if not challenged within reasonable time frame; however in this particular instance where government itself intervened timely asserting illegality - title never effectively passed from original allotee making all subsequent transfers invalid too.

In the dissenting opinion for United States v. Mason, 1908, Justice Harlan disagreed with the majority's decision to uphold a lower court ruling that allowed federal authorities to seize and destroy liquor on an Indian reservation without due process of law. He argued that this action violated the Fifth Amendment rights of non-Indians living on reservations who were engaged in legal trade under state laws. Harlan believed it was unconstitutional for Congress to authorize such seizures without providing any form of judicial review or compensation for property owners affected by these actions. He also expressed concern about potential abuses of power if government officials were given unchecked authority to confiscate private property based solely on their own judgments about what constituted "intoxicating liquors."