Fletcher vs Peck (1810)

         Georgia took control of a 35-million-acre region  know as the Yazoo lands (present day Alabama and Mississippi). These lands were the Indian Reserve that werewest of Geogia. In 1795, Georgia legislature (old legislature) divided the area into four parts. The government allowed each piece of land to be sold to four different land development companies for about 1.4 cents per acre. The Georgia legislature approved and was called the Yazoo Land Act of 1795. The Yazoo Land Act actually passed because bribes had taken place and so in the next election voters rejected most of the legislature. The next legislature that came into office (new legislature)not only repealed the law but voided any transactions made; they did this because of the public outcry. John Peck purchased land under the act but soon sold this land to Robert Fletcher. Fletcher brought this suit against Peck in 1803, saying that Peck did not have a clear owner title of the land. This was a lose-lose situation because if Supreme Court had ruled for Peck not to have true title over the land, then Fletcher would lose the land as well.
          In a six to one decision, the Supreme Court ruled that the state legislature could not repeal the law because it was considered unconstitutional. This was based of Article I, Section 10, Clause I, also called the Contract Clause, of the Constitution. It said that the Act cannot be invalidated even if the land was illegally obtained. This decision helped create a growing precedent for the sanctity of legal contracts. During this case, the Native Americans did not hold title to any of the lands in the Indian Reserve.
          In this case, the Supreme Court had to decide whether the state repealment of the Yazoo Land Act was costitutional or not. This was the first law that the Supreme Court asserted their power to prove a state law unconstitutional. This case also asserted that the Indians had no claim of the lands that they had been living on before Georgia just claimed it as their own. This case was the beginning of where the Supreme Court would decide whether or not any state law is/was constitutional or not.