Young v. United States was a United States Supreme Court case that addressed the issue of whether a defendant could be convicted of a crime if the indictment was not found until after the statute of limitations had expired. The case involved a man named Young who was indicted for a crime that had occurred more than three years prior. The indictment was not found until after the statute of limitations had expired. Young argued that he could not be convicted of the crime because the indictment was not found in time. The Supreme Court held that the statute of limitations was not a bar to the prosecution of the crime. The Court reasoned that the statute of limitations was intended to protect defendants from stale prosecutions, but that the protection did not extend to cases where the indictment was not found in time. The Court noted that the defendant had not been prejudiced by the delay in finding the indictment, and that the delay was not due to any fault of the defendant. The Court concluded that the defendant could be convicted of the crime, despite the fact that the indictment was not found in time.

Justice Field delivered the dissenting opinion in Young v. United States, arguing that Congress had no authority to pass a law which allowed for the punishment of an individual who committed a crime on board a vessel belonging to another nation. He argued that such action would be unconstitutional as it would violate Article III Section 2 of the Constitution, which states that "the judicial power shall extend...to all cases affecting ambassadors." As this case involved an ambassador from one country aboard another's vessel, Justice Field believed it should have been tried in accordance with international law and not by U.S. courts or laws. Furthermore, he argued that allowing Congress to punish individuals for crimes committed abroad could lead to dangerous consequences if other countries were allowed to do so within U.S borders without consequence; thus violating our sovereignty and creating chaos among nations worldwide