Insurance Company v. Ritchie was a case heard by the United States Supreme Court in 1866. The case involved a dispute between an insurance company and a policyholder over the terms of a life insurance policy. The insurance company had issued a policy to the policyholder, but the policyholder had failed to pay the premiums on time. The insurance company then sought to cancel the policy and refused to pay the death benefit when the policyholder died. The policyholder's estate argued that the insurance company had waived its right to cancel the policy by failing to take action when the policyholder failed to pay the premiums. The Supreme Court agreed with the estate, ruling that the insurance company had waived its right to cancel the policy and was therefore obligated to pay the death benefit. The Court held that the insurance company had a duty to act in good faith and that its failure to do so constituted a waiver of its right to cancel the policy. The Court also held that the policyholder's estate was entitled to the death benefit.

In Insurance Company v. Ritchie, the Supreme Court was asked to decide whether a policy of insurance issued by an insurer in one state could be enforced in another state. The majority opinion held that it could not, as the contract had been made and executed within the borders of only one state and thus did not have any effect outside those boundaries. However, Justice Field dissented from this decision on two grounds: firstly, he argued that if contracts were limited to their own states then interstate commerce would suffer; secondly, he noted that there was no legal reason why such contracts should be restricted geographically when they concerned matters which affected citizens across multiple states. He concluded by stating his belief that "the Constitution does not recognize State lines" with regards to commercial transactions between individuals or companies located in different jurisdictions.