Jacob E. Curtis brought a case against the County of Butler to the Supreme Court in 1860. He argued that he was entitled to compensation for damages caused by an act of the county, which had authorized a road through his property without providing any form of remuneration or other relief. The court found that while there may have been some benefit derived from having a public highway on Curtis’ land, it did not outweigh the damage done and thus he was entitled to receive payment for his losses as well as interest accrued since then. The court also held that when private property is taken for public use, just compensation must be paid regardless if it benefits both parties or not; this ruling established an important precedent regarding eminent domain law in America today.

In the dissenting opinion of Jacob E. Curtis v. The County of Butler, Justice McLean argued that the plaintiff had not established a sufficient legal basis to support his claim for damages against the county. He stated that although it was true that an individual may be entitled to compensation when their property is taken by public authority, this did not apply in this case as there was no evidence presented which showed any act on behalf of the county or its officers which caused injury to Mr. Curtis' property rights or interests. Furthermore, he noted that even if such an act had occurred, it would have been necessary for Mr. Curtis to prove both actual and substantial damage before being able to recover any form of compensation from the county; something which he failed to do in this instance due to lack of evidence provided by him during trial proceedings. Therefore, Justice McLean concluded that since no actionable wrongs were committed against Mr. Curtis by either himself or anyone else acting on behalf of Butler County, his suit should be dismissed without awarding him any damages whatsoever