In the United States v. Navarre case of 1898, the Supreme Court ruled on a dispute involving land ownership in Louisiana. The U.S. government claimed that it owned certain lands under an act from 1824 which allowed for the sale of public lands in Florida and other territories. However, Mr. Navarre argued that he had rightful claim to these lands based on French and Spanish land grants predating American control over Louisiana territory acquired through the Louisiana Purchase in 1803. The court held that while generally foreign governments' grants are recognized by subsequent sovereigns, this principle does not apply when there is evidence showing such recognition was expressly or implicitly denied by said succeeding sovereign - as was found with several acts passed by Congress after acquiring Louisiana Territory. Therefore, despite his claims being valid under French and Spanish rule prior to 1803, Mr.Navarre's rights were nullified due to lack of recognition from US law post-1803; thus ruling in favor of United States Government.

The dissenting opinion in the United States v. Navarre case argued that the court erred in its interpretation of the law and application to this particular case. The dissenting justices believed that Mr. Navarre's actions did not constitute a violation of federal laws regarding counterfeiting, as he was merely found with counterfeit money but there was no evidence proving his intent to defraud or deceive anyone using it. They contended that mere possession does not equate guilt unless accompanied by an intention to use such counterfeit currency for fraudulent purposes, which they felt wasn't adequately established during trial proceedings. Therefore, they disagreed with the majority decision upholding Mr. Navarre's conviction on these grounds.