In this Supreme Court case, Samuel Kelly, a citizen of New York, was the plaintiff in error and James Jackson, a citizen of New Jersey was the defendant in error. Henry Gage Morris and Maria Morris were aliens and British subjects while Thomas Hincks, John Hincks, John Jacob Astor Theodosius Fowler Cadwallader D. Colden and Cornelius I. Bogart were citizens of New Jersey. This case revolved around an action for damages that had been brought by Kelly against Jackson due to some land disputes between them which resulted from certain agreements made between them regarding their respective lands located on both sides of the border separating New York from New Jersey. Ultimately it was decided that since these agreements did not comply with laws set forth by either state they could not be enforced as such; thus no damages would be awarded to either party involved in this dispute.

In the case of Samuel Kelly v. James Jackson, the dissenting opinion was that a state court had no jurisdiction to hear a case involving aliens and British subjects as parties. The plaintiff argued that since he was an American citizen, his rights should be protected by the state court; however, this argument did not hold up in light of existing federal laws which stated that only federal courts could have jurisdiction over cases involving foreign citizens or nations. Therefore, it was ruled that the state court lacked authority to hear such matters and thus dismissed all claims against them.