Mackie et al. v. Story was a United States Supreme Court case that dealt with the issue of whether a state court had the authority to issue a writ of mandamus to a federal court. The case arose when the plaintiffs, Mackie and others, sought to compel the defendant, Story, to issue a writ of mandamus to the United States Circuit Court for the District of Oregon. The plaintiffs argued that the state court had the authority to issue the writ because the Circuit Court had failed to act on a case that had been pending before it for several years. The Supreme Court, however, held that the state court did not have the authority to issue the writ because the Circuit Court was a federal court and the state court lacked the power to issue a writ of mandamus to a federal court. The Court further held that the Circuit Court had the exclusive authority to issue the writ and that the state court could not interfere with the Circuit Court's authority. The Court's decision established that state courts do not have the authority to issue writs of mandamus to federal courts.

In Mackie et al. v. Story, the Supreme Court was tasked with determining whether a contract between two parties that had been partially performed could be enforced by one of the parties against the other in court. The majority opinion held that such contracts were not enforceable because they lacked consideration and mutuality of obligation; however, Justice Field dissented from this ruling on several grounds. He argued that partial performance should be considered sufficient to constitute consideration for an agreement and thus render it enforceable in court; he also noted that there is no requirement for mutuality of obligation when only one party has fully performed their obligations under a contract. Furthermore, Field argued that if courts are allowed to consider partial performance as evidence of an agreement's validity then it would provide greater protection for those who have already fulfilled their contractual duties but have yet to receive payment or services from another party who has failed to perform theirs in full or at all.