Cross v. De Valle was a case heard by the United States Supreme Court in 1863 that focused on whether or not an individual had the right to sue another party for damages caused by their negligence. The plaintiff, Cross, argued that he should be able to bring suit against De Valle as his negligence resulted in damage to Cross’s property and financial losses. The defendant argued that no such action could be taken due to a lack of precedent set forth in prior cases regarding this issue. Ultimately, the court ruled in favor of Cross and held that individuals have the right to seek compensation from other parties who negligently cause them harm or loss. This decision established an important legal principle which has been used ever since; namely, that individuals can hold each other accountable for negligent actions through civil litigation if they suffer any type of injury or loss as a result thereof.

In Cross v. De Valle, the Supreme Court was asked to decide whether a contract between two parties was valid and enforceable under Louisiana law. The majority opinion held that the contract in question did not meet all of the requirements for validity under Louisiana law and thus could not be enforced by either party. Justice Swayne dissented from this decision, arguing that while it may have been true that certain formalities were lacking in the execution of the agreement, both parties had acted upon it as if it were binding and should therefore be allowed to stand as a valid contract. He argued further that even though some technical aspects of its formation might have been deficient, there was no evidence presented at trial indicating any fraud or bad faith on either side's part which would invalidate their agreement. As such he felt strongly enough about his position to dissent from what became an otherwise unanimous ruling against enforcing this particular contractual arrangement between these two individuals