Lindsey et al. vs. Hawes et al., was a case heard by the United States Supreme Court in 1862 that dealt with the issue of whether or not an individual could be held liable for debts incurred by another person, even if they had no knowledge of them. The court ruled that individuals were only responsible for their own debts and could not be held accountable for those of others unless there was evidence to show otherwise. This decision established a precedent which has been followed ever since: one is only liable for his/her own debt obligations and cannot be made to pay off someone else's without proof that he/she agreed to do so or had some other form of involvement in it. This ruling also provided protection from creditors who might try to hold innocent parties responsible for another’s debt, as well as providing assurance that contracts would remain binding between two parties regardless of any third-party interference or lack thereof.

In Lindsey et al. vs. Hawes et al., the Supreme Court was asked to decide whether a Georgia statute that allowed for the sale of property belonging to an insolvent debtor, without requiring notice or consent from all creditors, violated Article I Section 10 of the United States Constitution which prohibits states from passing any law impairing contracts. The majority opinion held that such a state law did not violate Article I Section 10 because it only applied prospectively and thus could not be said to have impaired existing contracts between debtors and their creditors. Justice Grier dissented on this point arguing that while prospective laws are generally permissible under Article I Section 10, in this case there were already existing contractual obligations between debtors and their creditors which would be affected by the Georgia statute if it were allowed to stand as written; therefore he argued that allowing such a law would constitute an unconstitutional impairment of contract rights protected by Article I Section 10 of the US Constitution.