Bigler v. Waller was a United States Supreme Court case that dealt with the issue of whether a state could constitutionally deny a person the right to vote based on their race. The case was brought by a black man, William Bigler, who had been denied the right to vote in the state of Virginia. Bigler argued that the Virginia law violated the Fifteenth Amendment, which prohibits states from denying citizens the right to vote based on race. The Supreme Court ultimately ruled in favor of Bigler, finding that the Virginia law was unconstitutional. The Court held that the Fifteenth Amendment was intended to protect the right to vote for all citizens, regardless of race. The Court also noted that the Fifteenth Amendment was intended to protect the rights of all citizens, not just those of African descent. The Bigler v. Waller decision was an important victory for civil rights, as it established that states could not deny citizens the right to vote based on race. This decision was a major step forward in the fight for civil rights and helped to ensure that all citizens had the right to vote.

In Bigler v. Waller, the Supreme Court was asked to determine whether a contract between two parties should be enforced when it had been made in violation of an existing state law. The majority opinion held that the contract could not be enforced because it violated public policy and therefore was voidable at the option of either party. However, Justice Field dissented from this decision on the grounds that contracts are generally binding unless they violate some fundamental principle or rule of positive law. He argued that since there were no such principles or rules violated by this particular contract, then it should have been upheld as valid and enforceable despite its violation of state law. Furthermore, he noted that if courts were allowed to invalidate contracts simply because they ran counter to public policy considerations then all private agreements would become uncertain and unreliable which would ultimately lead to chaos in society's commercial dealings with one another.