Charles A. Davis, the Consul General of the King of Saxony, brought a case against Isaac Packard, Henry Disdier and William Morphy to the United States Supreme Court in 1832. The dispute was over an unpaid debt that had been incurred by two French citizens who were living in New York at the time. The defendants argued that they should not be held liable for this debt since it was contracted before they became involved with it and thus did not have any legal obligation to pay it off. However, Davis argued that as representatives of their respective governments (the U.S., France and Saxony), they had a duty to ensure payment on behalf of those countries’ citizens regardless if there was prior involvement or not. After much deliberation, the court ultimately sided with Davis ruling that all three defendants were responsible for paying off this debt due to their diplomatic status within each country's government structure at the time when it occurred

In Charles A. Davis, Consul General of the King of Saxony v. Isaac Packard, Henry Disdier and William Morphy, the Supreme Court was asked to decide whether a consul general had authority to bring suit in an American court on behalf of his sovereign without special permission from Congress or the President. The majority opinion held that he did not have such authority because it would be inconsistent with international law for one nation's courts to exercise jurisdiction over another nation's citizens without its consent. However, Justice Story dissented from this decision arguing that there is no rule against a foreign government bringing suit in an American court as long as it does so through its own representative and complies with local laws governing procedure and evidence. He argued further that if Congress or the President were required to give their approval before any action could be taken by a foreign government then they would effectively have control over all matters involving foreign governments which should instead remain under exclusive control of those governments themselves.