#LawandHistory #FletchervPeck #JudicialReview #YazooLandFraud
Fletcher v. Peck (1810)
In 1810, the United States Supreme Court decided the landmark case of Fletcher v. Peck extending the doctrine of judicial review to State legislatures. This case grew out of the 1795 Yazoo Land Fraud, political corruption, and good old-fashioned American greed. Born of land speculators and a failed attempt to settle the lands that would become Alabama and Mississippi, the Georgia legislature sold 35 million acres of land to four companies for just $500,000. Clearly, this was the result of fraud and bribery and in 1796 Georgia repealed the land grant. That didn’t stop the speculators though, they quickly sold ‘their’ land to innocent third-parties.
Thus, the stage was set for a showdown between the Georgia state legislature which sought to abrogate contracts made in reliance of the 1795 Act and the Marshall Court which examined these facts under the Contract Clause.
Outline:
00:00 Introduction
00:41 The Historical Background
04:19 The Facts of the Case
05:33 The Legal Issue
06:38 The Court’s Holding & Reasoning
13:15 Historical Effects & Conclusion
Case law:
Fletcher v. Peck, 10 U.S. 87 (1810)
