In the United States Supreme Court case of The United States v. Eli R. Price, Executor of Joseph Archer, the court was asked to decide whether a federal district court had jurisdiction over an action brought by the executor against the government for damages resulting from a breach of contract. The executor argued that he should be allowed to sue in federal court because his claim arose under federal law and involved rights granted by Congress. However, the government contended that such claims must be litigated in state courts since they are not within exclusive jurisdiction of any particular branch or department of government. After considering both sides' arguments, the Supreme Court held that while it is true that some cases involving contracts with Congress may fall within exclusive jurisdiction of certain branches or departments, this particular case did not meet those criteria and thus could properly be heard in either state or federal courts at plaintiff's discretion.

In the case of The United States v. Eli R. Price, Executor of Joseph Archer, the dissenting opinion argued that a federal court had no jurisdiction to hear an appeal from a state court decision concerning land titles in Arkansas. The dissent reasoned that Congress did not have authority to grant such jurisdiction and thus it was unconstitutional for the Supreme Court to do so. Furthermore, they argued that even if Congress had granted such power, there were still procedural issues with how this particular case was handled which should have prevented it from being heard by the Supreme Court in its current form. Ultimately, they concluded that since there was no constitutional basis for granting appellate jurisdiction over this matter and because proper procedures were not followed when bringing it before the court, any ruling on this issue would be invalid and should be reversed or dismissed outright.