The United States brought a case against Thomas Reid and Edward Clements for the illegal sale of liquor in Indian country. The Supreme Court ruled that the federal government had exclusive jurisdiction over crimes committed on Native American land, as well as other lands owned by the United States. Furthermore, it was determined that state laws did not apply to such cases since they were outside their jurisdiction. This ruling set an important precedent for future cases involving similar issues and established a clear line between federal authority and state authority when it comes to criminal activity on federally-owned land.

In the case of The United States v. Thomas Reid and Edward Clements, the Supreme Court was asked to decide whether a federal statute that prohibited citizens from trading with Native Americans on their own land without permission from Congress was constitutional. Justice McLean dissented, arguing that Congress had no authority to pass such a law because it violated the Fifth Amendment's protection against taking private property for public use without just compensation. He argued further that this law interfered with an individual's right to contract freely and thus infringed upon his liberty as protected by the Constitution. Furthermore, he noted that if this kind of legislation were allowed then there would be nothing stopping Congress from passing laws which could potentially interfere with any other type of contract or business transaction between individuals in violation of their rights under the Constitution.