White et al. v. Luning was a United States Supreme Court case that dealt with the issue of whether a state court had the authority to issue a writ of habeas corpus to a prisoner who was being held in a federal prison. The case arose when the state court issued a writ of habeas corpus to a prisoner who was being held in a federal prison in California. The prisoner, Luning, had been convicted of a federal crime and was serving his sentence in the federal prison. The Supreme Court held that the state court did not have the authority to issue the writ of habeas corpus. The Court reasoned that the writ of habeas corpus was a federal remedy and that the state court did not have the authority to issue it. The Court also noted that the writ of habeas corpus was a remedy that was available only to those who were being held in state custody, not federal custody. The Court's decision in White et al. v. Luning established that state courts do not have the authority to issue writs of habeas corpus to prisoners who are being held in federal custody. This decision has been cited in numerous subsequent cases and has been used to support the principle that state courts do not have the authority to interfere with the federal government's power to imprison individuals.

In White et al. v. Luning, the Supreme Court was asked to decide whether a Nevada state law that allowed for the sale of certain public lands by private individuals was constitutional or not. The majority opinion held that it did not violate any federal laws and thus could stand as valid legislation in Nevada. However, Justice Field dissented from this decision on two grounds: firstly, he argued that Congress had exclusive power over all public land within the United States; secondly, he contended that allowing private citizens to purchase such land would be an unconstitutional delegation of authority from Congress to those citizens since they were not elected representatives with legislative powers granted by Congress itself. In conclusion, Justice Field believed that while states may have some control over their own lands within their borders, when it comes to federally owned property like these public lands in question here then only Congress has ultimate authority and should be responsible for deciding how best to manage them.