In the 1982 case Washington et al. v. United States, the U.S Supreme Court was asked to consider whether or not a federal court could order a state and its political subdivisions to increase taxes in order to fund improvements for public education. The case arose after several school districts in Washington State sued the state government, arguing that it had failed to provide adequate funding for public schools as required by the state constitution. A federal district court ruled in favor of the school districts and ordered an increase in property taxes statewide until such time as other arrangements were made by legislature. However, on appeal, this decision was overturned by the Supreme Court which held that while states have an obligation under their own constitutions to provide adequate funding for public education, any remedy must be sought through those same constitutional processes rather than through federal courts imposing tax increases directly. The ruling emphasized respect for states' rights and autonomy within their jurisdictional boundaries under principles of Federalism enshrined within US Constitution's Tenth Amendment.

The dissenting opinion in the case of Washington et al. v. United States, 1982 argued that the majority's decision to uphold a lower court ruling requiring Washington State to build fish ladders at state expense was an overreach of judicial authority and misinterpretation of treaty rights. The dissenters believed that while Native American tribes were indeed entitled to their fair share of fish under treaties signed with the federal government, it did not mean they had a right to half the harvestable number of every salmon species in every river where fishing took place. They also disagreed with imposing such a significant financial burden on taxpayers without clear evidence that building these structures would significantly improve fish populations or tribal access to them. Furthermore, they felt this issue should be resolved through negotiation between parties rather than litigation.