In the United States v. Biggs case of 1908, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled on a matter involving land rights and mining claims in Alaska. The defendant, Biggs, had staked out several mining claims on public lands in Alaska but failed to perform annual labor or improvements required by law to maintain those claims. Consequently, the government declared these lands open for relocation and they were subsequently claimed by other parties who performed necessary work as per regulations. When Biggs attempted to assert his original claim over these relocated properties through legal action, he was denied relief by lower courts. The Supreme Court upheld this decision stating that failure to comply with statutory requirements resulted in forfeiture of his original claim rights making them voidable at will of government or third party relocators who complied with laws regarding such property acquisition and maintenance. Therefore, even though there might not have been formal proceedings declaring abandonment before new locations were made; non-compliance itself constituted sufficient ground for loss of exclusive right over said properties.

In the dissenting opinion for United States v. Biggs, Justice Harlan argued that the majority's decision to uphold a conviction based on evidence obtained through an unlawful search and seizure was fundamentally flawed. He contended that such practices violated the Fourth Amendment of the Constitution, which protects citizens from unreasonable searches and seizures without probable cause or a warrant. Furthermore, he expressed concern about setting a dangerous precedent where law enforcement could disregard constitutional rights in pursuit of criminal convictions. In his view, this would undermine public trust in legal institutions and erode civil liberties over time.