In Badger v. Badger, the Supreme Court of the United States was asked to decide whether a contract between two parties could be enforced when one party had died before it was fully performed. The court held that contracts are binding on both parties and must be fulfilled even if one of them dies before performance is complete. The case involved an agreement between William Badger and his brother-in-law, John W. Smith, in which Smith agreed to pay $500 for certain real estate owned by William's wife Mary Ann after her death. When Mary Ann passed away without fulfilling her part of the bargain, William sued Smith for breach of contract but lost at trial because he did not have legal title to the property himself since it belonged solely to his deceased wife. On appeal however, the Supreme Court reversed this decision and ruled in favor of William finding that although he lacked legal title over the property due to its passing directly from Mary Ann upon her death; nevertheless as executor under her will he still had authority over it sufficient enough for him enforce their contractual agreement against Smith regardless

In Badger v. Badger, the Supreme Court was asked to decide whether a state court had jurisdiction over an action brought by a non-resident against another non-resident in that state. The majority opinion held that it did not have such jurisdiction and reversed the judgment of the lower court. However, Justice Field dissented from this decision and argued that states should be allowed to exercise their own discretion when deciding which cases they will hear in their courts. He further argued that if Congress has not expressly prohibited them from doing so, then states should be able to determine for themselves what types of cases they will entertain within their borders without interference from federal courts or other authorities. In conclusion, Justice Field believed that allowing each state its own autonomy on this issue would lead to greater efficiency and fairness in our judicial system as a whole.