John M. Fackler appealed to the United States Supreme Court after a lower court ruled against him in his case against John R. Ford and others. The dispute centered around an agreement between Fackler and Ford, wherein Fackler agreed to pay $1,000 for certain lands owned by Ford in exchange for two promissory notes from Ford totaling $2,500 with interest at 6%. When the notes came due, however, they were not paid as promised. As such, Fackler sued both parties on the grounds of breach of contract and sought damages equal to double what he had originally paid for the land plus interest accrued since then. The Supreme Court ultimately sided with the lower court's ruling that there was no evidence that either party had acted fraudulently or maliciously enough to warrant any additional compensation beyond what was initially agreed upon in their contract; thus affirming its decision that neither party should be held liable beyond fulfilling their original contractual obligations towards one another.

In the case of John M. Fackler v. John R. Ford and Others, the Supreme Court was asked to decide whether a state court had jurisdiction over an action brought by a non-resident against citizens of that state in which they resided. The majority opinion held that it did not have such jurisdiction because there was no provision for it in the Constitution or any other law at the time; however, Justice Grier dissented from this decision on two grounds: firstly, he argued that since states are sovereign entities with their own laws and courts, they should be allowed to exercise jurisdiction over non-residents if necessary; secondly, he noted that although there may not have been explicit provisions allowing such actions at the time of this case's filing, subsequent legislation had made them permissible under certain circumstances. In conclusion, Justice Grier believed that states should be able to exercise their sovereignty when dealing with cases involving non-residents as long as those actions do not conflict with federal law or constitutional rights.