Christmas v. Russell

72 U.S. 290, 5 Wall. 290 (1866)

Study Aids
Case Briefs Overview
Casebooks
Case Briefs
C
From our private database of 46,300+ case briefs, written and edited by humans—never with AI.

Christmas v. Russell

United States Supreme Court
72 U.S. 290, 5 Wall. 290 (1866)

Facts

In November 1857, Wilson won a money judgment against Christmas (defendant) in Kentucky state court based on a promissory note that was made and signed in Mississippi in 1840. Wilson then sued Christmas in federal court in Mississippi to collect on the Kentucky judgment. Christmas responded, among other things, that the Kentucky suit was time-barred by Mississippi law and that the Kentucky judgment had been fraudulently obtained. Wilson demurred to these defenses (i.e., Wilson sought to dismiss the defenses as not entitling Christmas to legal relief even if the alleged facts were true). The Mississippi trial court agreed with Wilson and dismissed the statute-of-limitations and fraud defenses. Christmas appealed.

Rule of Law

Issue

Holding and Reasoning (Clifford, J.)

What to do next…

  1. Unlock this case brief with a free (no-commitment) trial membership of Quimbee.

    You’ll be in good company: Quimbee is one of the most widely used and trusted sites for law students, serving more than 810,000 law students since 2011. Some law schools—such as Yale, Berkeley, and Northwestern—even subscribe directly to Quimbee for all their law students.

    Unlock this case briefRead our student testimonials

  2. Learn more about Quimbee’s unique (and proven) approach to achieving great grades at law school.

    Quimbee is a company hell-bent on one thing: helping you get an “A” in every course you take in law school, so you can graduate at the top of your class and get a high-paying law job. We’re not just a study aid for law students; we’re the study aid for law students.

    Learn about our approachRead more about Quimbee

Here's why 810,000 law students have relied on our case briefs:

  • Written by law professors and practitioners, not other law students. 46,300 briefs, keyed to 988 casebooks. Top-notch customer support.
  • The right amount of information, includes the facts, issues, rule of law, holding and reasoning, and any concurrences and dissents.
  • Access in your classes, works on your mobile and tablet. Massive library of related video lessons and high quality multiple-choice questions.
  • Easy to use, uniform format for every case brief. Written in plain English, not in legalese. Our briefs summarize and simplify; they don’t just repeat the court’s language.

Access this case brief for FREE

With a 7-day free trial membership
Here's why 810,000 law students have relied on our case briefs:
  • Reliable - written by law professors and practitioners, not other law students
  • The right length and amount of information - includes the facts, issue, rule of law, holding and reasoning, and any concurrences and dissents
  • Access in your class - works on your mobile and tablet
  • 46,300 briefs - keyed to 988 casebooks
  • Uniform format for every case brief
  • Written in plain English - not in legalese and not just repeating the court's language
  • Massive library of related video lessons - and practice questions
  • Top-notch customer support

Access this case brief for FREE

With a 7-day free trial membership

Casebooks

Conflict of Laws

Key Terms

Related Videos