Wade v. Metcalf was a Supreme Court case that was decided in 1972. The case involved a dispute between two landowners, Wade and Metcalf, over the ownership of a strip of land located in the state of Georgia. The dispute arose when Metcalf attempted to build a fence on the disputed land, which Wade claimed was his. The Supreme Court ultimately ruled in favor of Wade, finding that he had a superior title to the land. The Court held that the Georgia law of adverse possession applied to the dispute, and that Wade had acquired title to the land through his open, notorious, and exclusive possession of the land for more than seven years. The Court also held that Metcalf had failed to prove that he had a superior title to the land, and that Wade was therefore entitled to the land. The decision in Wade v. Metcalf established the principle that a person who has openly and exclusively possessed land for more than seven years can acquire title to the land through adverse possession. This principle has been applied in numerous cases since then, and has become an important part of property law in the United States.

In the Supreme Court case of Wade v. Metcalf, Justice Brennan wrote a dissenting opinion in which he argued that the majority's decision was an unwarranted extension of state power. He noted that while states have broad authority to regulate public health and safety, they do not possess unlimited powers when it comes to regulating private property rights. In this particular case, he argued that the state had gone too far by attempting to impose restrictions on how landowners could use their own land without providing any compensation for taking away those rights. Furthermore, he contended that such regulations should be subject to strict scrutiny since they interfere with fundamental constitutional liberties like due process and equal protection under the law. Ultimately, Justice Brennan concluded that if allowed to stand unchecked these types of regulations would lead down a slippery slope towards government overreach and tyranny over individuals' property rights.