In the United States v. Harmon case of 1892, the Supreme Court ruled on a dispute involving land ownership in Kansas. The defendant, Harmon, had purchased land from an individual who acquired it through a patent issued by the U.S government under an act of Congress providing for homestead settlements. However, before this purchase was made, another party claimed that they had already bought and paid for part of this same property from Native American tribes with permission granted by treaties between those tribes and the U.S government. The court decided in favor of Harmon because he obtained his title directly from federal law (the Homestead Act), which superseded any previous agreements or transactions related to that piece of land. This ruling reinforced the principle that federal law is supreme over state laws or contracts when there are conflicts regarding matters within its jurisdiction such as public lands distribution.

In the dissenting opinion for United States v. Harmon, it was argued that the government did not have a right to seize property without due process of law. The dissenting justices believed that the seizure of Harmon's property by federal agents violated his Fifth Amendment rights, which protect against unlawful search and seizure. They contended that even if Harmon had been involved in illegal activities as alleged, this did not justify bypassing legal procedures to confiscate his assets. In their view, every citizen is entitled to fair treatment under the law regardless of any accusations leveled against them; thus they disagreed with majority ruling allowing such seizures without proper court proceedings or evidence proving guilt beyond reasonable doubt.