In acquiring real property, or any interest therein, it is United States' policy to impartially protect the interests of all concerned. The Fifth Amendment of the United States Constitution asserts: "nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation." Since "the courts early adopted, and have retained, the concept of market value" 3 as the measure of just compensation, the United States, as a matter of general policy, bases its land acquisitions on market value appraisals: "[ I] t is the duty of the state, in the conduct of the inquest by which the compensation is ascertained, to see that it is just, not merely to the individual whose property is taken, but to the public which is to pay for it." 4
3 United States v. Miller, 317 U. S. 369, 374 (1943).
4 Searl v. School District, Lake County, 133 U. S. 553, 562 (1890); Bauman v. Ross, 167 U. S. 548, 574 (1897).
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