In the case of George W. Ward and Richard K. Call, Register and Receiver (U.S.) v Lewis Gregory, the Supreme Court was asked to decide whether a patent issued by Congress for land in Alabama was valid or not. The appellants argued that it had been fraudulently obtained by Gregory from an individual who did not have legal title to it, while Gregory maintained that he had acquired good title through purchase from someone with authority to sell it. After examining all of the evidence presented at trial, including testimony from witnesses on both sides as well as documents related to the transaction between them, the court ruled in favor of Gregory and held that his patent was indeed validly issued under federal law and thus could be enforced against any other claimants who might come forward later seeking rights over this property.

In the case of George W. Ward and Richard K. Call, Register and Receiver (U.S.) v Lewis Gregory, the dissenting opinion argued that Congress had no authority to pass a law granting land in Florida to individuals who served in the military during certain periods of time as it was not within its power under Article I Section 8 of the Constitution which grants Congress only limited powers over public lands such as those for post offices or fortifications. The dissent further argued that even if this were an appropriate exercise of Congressional power, then it would be unconstitutional because there was no compensation given to those whose property rights were taken away by virtue of this act; thus violating their Fifth Amendment right against taking private property without just compensation. Finally, they contended that since this grant did not involve any federal funds or resources but rather simply gave away public lands already owned by the United States government, then it should have been done through a treaty with Spain instead so as to avoid potential constitutional issues related to taking private property without due process or just compensation for doing so.