In the United States Supreme Court case of The United States v. Michael C. Nye, the appellant argued that a certain parcel of land was not subject to taxation as it had been granted by Congress to an Indian tribe and therefore could not be taxed by state or local authorities. The respondent countered that since he had purchased the land from members of said tribe, he should be allowed to pay taxes on it in accordance with state law. After reviewing both sides' arguments, the court ruled in favor of Nye and held that his purchase did indeed make him liable for taxation under applicable laws even though it originated from a grant made by Congress to an Indian Tribe. This decision established precedent for future cases involving similar issues concerning tribal lands being sold off piecemeal without federal approval or oversight while still allowing states and municipalities their right to collect taxes on such transactions when they occur within their jurisdiction.

In the case of The United States v. Michael C. Nye, the Supreme Court was tasked with determining whether a defendant could be convicted for an offense that had been committed prior to Congress passing a law making it illegal. Justice Grier wrote in dissent, arguing that Congress did not have the power to make something retroactively criminal and therefore convicting someone for such an act would violate due process rights under the Fifth Amendment. He argued that if this were allowed then any person who had acted according to what was previously legal could now be punished without warning or recourse by simply changing laws after-the-fact. Furthermore, he contended that allowing such action would create uncertainty as people would never know when their actions might become punishable offenses and thus lead them into unknowingly committing crimes which they should have known about beforehand but didn't because of lack of notice from government officials or lawmakers themselves. Ultimately, Justice Grier concluded his opinion by stating that no one should ever suffer punishment unless there is clear evidence showing they knew their acts were wrong at the time they committed them; otherwise it violates fundamental principles of justice enshrined in our Constitution's Bill of Rights