In the 1907 U.S. Supreme Court case Maria Francisca O'Reilly De Camara, Countess of Buena Vista v. Brooke, Major General, U.S.A., the court examined whether a military governor had the authority to confiscate property during peacetime under international law. The plaintiff was a Spanish noblewoman who owned property in Puerto Rico that was seized by American forces during the Spanish-American War in 1898 and subsequently sold off by Governor Brooke without compensation to her after peace had been declared. The court ruled against de Camara on grounds that she failed to make a claim for her properties within two years as required by an act passed by Congress regarding claims from inhabitants of territories ceded to America following war with Spain. This decision upheld broad powers for military governors acting under martial law even after formal hostilities have ended.

The dissenting opinion in the case of Maria Francisca O'Reilly de Camara, Countess of Buena Vista v. Brooke, Major General, U.S.A., 1907 was delivered by Justice Harlan. He disagreed with the majority's ruling that a military governor had the authority to confiscate private property during peacetime without providing compensation to its owner. In his view, this decision violated both international law and principles established in previous Supreme Court rulings which stated that private property could not be taken for public use without just compensation under any circumstances. Furthermore, he argued that even if such an action were permissible during wartime (which he did not concede), it would still be unacceptable during peacetime when normal legal processes should prevail.