Noonan v. Lee was a Supreme Court case in which the court held that an individual's right to contract is protected by the Fifth Amendment of the United States Constitution. The case involved a dispute between two individuals, Noonan and Lee, over a contract for labor services. In this particular instance, Noonan had agreed to perform certain labor services for Lee in exchange for payment; however, when it came time to pay up, Lee refused. As such, Noonan sued him on grounds of breach of contract and sought damages as compensation for his losses due to non-payment. Ultimately, the Supreme Court found that while states have authority over contracts within their jurisdiction under state law (which would include enforcing them), they cannot interfere with or deny an individual's right to enter into contracts without violating their constitutional rights under the Fifth Amendment - thus ruling in favor of Noonan and awarding him damages accordingly.

In the case of Noonan v. Lee, Justice Nelson delivered a dissenting opinion in which he argued that the majority's decision was contrary to established precedent and would lead to an unjust result. He noted that while it is true that a contract must be performed according to its terms, this does not mean that one party can unilaterally alter or modify those terms without the consent of both parties. In this case, he argued, Lee had no right to change his agreement with Noonan by refusing payment for goods already received and accepted by him; such action constituted a breach of contract on his part and should have been addressed as such rather than allowing him to escape liability altogether. Furthermore, Nelson contended that if courts were allowed to excuse breaches of contracts whenever they deemed them "unjust," then there would be little incentive for individuals or businesses entering into agreements with each other since any violation could simply be excused away at will.