In Brown v. Slee, the United States Supreme Court was asked to decide whether a contract between two parties was valid and enforceable. The contract in question was between a husband and wife, and it provided that the husband would pay the wife a certain sum of money each month for the rest of her life. The husband had failed to make the payments, and the wife sued to enforce the contract. The Supreme Court held that the contract was valid and enforceable. The Court noted that the contract was not against public policy, and that it was not contrary to any law or statute. The Court also noted that the contract was not unconscionable, and that it was not against the interests of either party. The Court concluded that the contract was valid and enforceable, and that the wife was entitled to the payments she was promised.

Justice Field delivered the dissenting opinion in Brown v. Slee, arguing that the majority's decision was contrary to established precedent and should be overturned. He argued that under prior decisions of the Supreme Court, a party who had been wrongfully dispossessed of land could not recover damages for rents or profits from it during his wrongful exclusion unless he had made an effort to regain possession by legal means before bringing suit. The plaintiff in this case did not make such an effort and thus was barred from recovering any rent or profit from the property while excluded therefrom. Justice Field further noted that even if no such requirement existed, it would still be inappropriate for a court to award damages based on speculation as to what might have occurred between two parties over time; rather, courts must rely upon actual facts when awarding damages. As such, Justice Field concluded that since there were no facts presented which showed how much money either party would have received if they had entered into a lease agreement at some point during their dispute over ownership of the land in question, then neither party could receive any compensation for lost rents or profits due them as part of their lawsuit against each other