Bennett v. Hunter was a United States Supreme Court case that was decided in 1869. The case involved a dispute between two parties over the ownership of a piece of land in the state of Indiana. The plaintiff, Bennett, claimed that he had purchased the land from the defendant, Hunter, in 1845. Hunter, however, argued that he had never sold the land to Bennett and that he was still the rightful owner. The Supreme Court ultimately sided with Bennett, ruling that he had indeed purchased the land from Hunter in 1845. The Court found that Hunter had made a valid contract with Bennett and that Bennett had fulfilled his obligations under the contract. The Court also found that Hunter had failed to take any action to reclaim the land, despite having knowledge of the sale. As a result, the Court held that Bennett was the rightful owner of the land.

In Bennett v. Hunter, the Supreme Court was asked to decide whether a state court had jurisdiction over an action brought by a citizen of one state against another in which the defendant resided in a third state. The majority opinion held that such suits could not be maintained in any other forum than that of the defendant's home state, and thus dismissed the case before them. Justice Field dissented from this decision, arguing that it would lead to great injustice as citizens were denied access to justice due to their inability or unwillingness to travel across states for litigation purposes. He further argued that Congress should have been given more time and opportunity to address these issues through legislation rather than having them decided by judicial fiat. Ultimately he concluded that since there was no clear precedent on this issue at hand, it should be left up for Congress or individual states themselves determine how best handle such cases going forward.