Juilliard v. Greenman

110 U.S. 421 (1884)

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Juilliard v. Greenman

United States Supreme Court
110 U.S. 421 (1884)

Facts

A purchaser (defendant) bought goods from a seller (defendant). The purchaser sought to satisfy debt by offering the seller United States notes (i.e., dollars) that had been issued by the federal government during the Civil War. Specifically, during the Civil War, Congress passed legislation authorizing the use of paper money that could be legal tender for all debts, public and private. Following the Civil War, Congress allowed the notes to be turned in to the Treasury Department in exchange for metal currency (i.e., coins). But Congress later forbade the Treasury Department from retiring the paper currency through such exchange. The goal of this later legislation was to ensure that the paper currency remained in circulation. There was no dispute that the paper money the purchaser had offered the seller consisted of genuine notes under this legislation. The seller sued the purchaser, claiming that the paper money was invalid because Congress did not have the power to make paper money legal tender for the payment of private debts. The lower courts rejected this argument.

Rule of Law

Issue

Holding and Reasoning (Gray, J.)

Dissent (Field, J.)

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