Blackwell Reference Online

Extract

In 1810 the Supreme Court unanimously ruled that in 1796 the Ga. legislature had improperly repealed a 1795 law vesting vacant lands in the Yazoo Land Co. ( see Y azoo land claims ). Although the Court knew that the Yazoo Land Co. had used bribery and corruption to obtain the land, it held that a land grant was a contract, and that Ga.'s nullification violated the Constitution, which forbade states from impairing the obligation of contracts (Article I, Section 10). This decision marked the first time that the Court struck down a state law as inconsistent with the Constitution itself, rather than for being incompatible with a federal treaty or statute. By clarifying that Article I, Section 10 protected not only private contracts, but also public contracts such as land grants and acts of incorporation, this ruling (along with D artmouth C ollege v. W oodward ) made it more difficult for states to regulate businesses with state charters. ... log in or subscribe to read full text