In the 1958 case United States v. 93.970 Acres of Land et al., the U.S Supreme Court ruled on a dispute over land valuation for eminent domain purposes. The federal government had seized nearly 94 acres of land in New York State to expand a military base, and was required by law to compensate the owners fairly for their property loss. However, disagreement arose over how much compensation was fair; while an initial jury awarded $109,212 to the owners based on its agricultural value, they appealed this decision arguing that it should be valued as potential industrial property instead which would significantly increase its worth. The Supreme Court sided with the original jury's assessment and held that just compensation under Fifth Amendment takings clause is determined by considering only existing uses or those in reasonable prospect - not speculative or hypothetical ones. Therefore, since there were no concrete plans indicating imminent industrial development at time of seizure nor any demand for such use despite being zoned accordingly years prior; it could not be considered when determining fair market value.

In the dissenting opinion for UNITED STATES v. 93.970 ACRES OF LAND et al., Justice Whittaker disagreed with the majority's ruling that compensation should be based on the highest and most profitable use of land, even if such use is not currently in effect or planned for immediate future implementation. He argued that this approach could lead to speculative and excessive valuations, which would unfairly burden taxpayers who ultimately bear the cost of public projects requiring land acquisition through eminent domain laws. Instead, he proposed a more conservative valuation method: considering only those uses of property that are reasonably probable in near future under private ownership without any enhancement due to government project itself.