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Quotation from Fletcher v. Peck by Supreme Court of the United States
“It is, then, the unanimous opinion of the court, that, in this case, the estate having passed into the hands of a purchaser for a valuable consideration, without notice, the state of Georgia was restrained, either by general principles which are common to our free institutions, or by the particular provisions of the constitution of the United States, from passing a law whereby the estate of the plaintiff in the premises so purchased could be constitutionally and legally impaired and rendered null and void.”
Fletcher v. Peck, Opinion of the Court (Marshall, C.J.), on the rescinding act (U.S. Reports text (Legal Information Institute))
Chief Justice Marshall states the holding, resting it on both natural principles and the Constitution's text.
Citation: "It is, then, the unanimous opinion of the court, that, in this case, the estate having passed into the hands of a purchaser for a valuable consideration, without notice, the state of Georgia was restrained, either by general principles which are common to our free institutions, or by the particular provisions of the constitution of the United States, from passing a law whereby the estate of the plaintiff in the premises so purchased could be constitutionally and legally impaired and rendered null and void." — Supreme Court of the United States, Fletcher v. Peck, Opinion of the Court (Marshall, C.J.), on the rescinding act (U.S. Reports text (Legal Information Institute)). (id fletcher-v-peck-q1)
Portrait: John Marshall by Henry Inman, 1832, Henry Inman, Public domain.
