The United States Supreme Court case of United States v. Realty Company concerned the issue of whether the United States government had the right to take possession of a piece of land in order to build a lighthouse. The land in question was owned by the Realty Company, and the government had attempted to purchase the land from the company, but the company refused to sell. The government then sought to take possession of the land through eminent domain, which is the power of the government to take private property for public use. The Supreme Court held that the government did have the right to take possession of the land in order to build the lighthouse. The Court reasoned that the government had a legitimate public purpose in building the lighthouse, and that the taking of the land was necessary in order to accomplish that purpose. The Court also noted that the government had attempted to purchase the land from the Realty Company, but the company had refused to sell. Therefore, the Court concluded that the government had the right to take possession of the land through eminent domain.

In the case of United States v. Realty Company, a majority opinion was issued by the Supreme Court that held that when an individual is appointed to act as receiver for a corporation, they are not liable for any debts or liabilities incurred prior to their appointment. Justice Field dissented from this decision and argued that receivers should be responsible for all pre-existing obligations of the company in order to protect creditors who have loaned money on faith in its solvency. He reasoned that if receivers were allowed to avoid responsibility for existing debts then it would encourage them to take over companies with no intention of paying off those debts and thus harm creditors who had already lent money based on trust in the corporation's ability to pay back what it owed. Furthermore, he argued that allowing such behavior could lead other potential investors away from investing due diligence into corporations before lending them money out of fear they may never get repaid if a receiver takes control at some point down the line.