Roberts v. Graham was a United States Supreme Court case that dealt with the issue of whether a state could require a person to pay a fee in order to obtain a license to practice law. The case was brought by a man named Roberts, who had been denied a license to practice law in the state of Georgia because he had not paid the required fee. The Supreme Court ruled in favor of Roberts, holding that the state of Georgia could not require a fee to be paid in order to obtain a license to practice law. The Court reasoned that the fee was a form of taxation, and that the state could not impose a tax on the exercise of a fundamental right. The Court also held that the fee was a form of discrimination, as it was only imposed on those who wished to practice law, and not on any other profession. The decision in Roberts v. Graham was an important one, as it established that the state could not impose a fee on the exercise of a fundamental right. This decision has been cited in numerous cases since, and has been used to protect the rights of individuals to pursue their chosen profession without having to pay a fee.

In Roberts v. Graham, the Supreme Court was tasked with determining whether a state law that allowed for the sale of real estate to satisfy unpaid taxes violated the Constitution's Contract Clause. The majority opinion found that it did not violate this clause and upheld the law in question. However, Justice Field dissented from this decision, arguing that such a law interfered with existing contracts between property owners and creditors by allowing those who had lent money against mortgages on properties to be paid out of tax sales proceeds before other creditors were able to collect their debts. He argued further that since these lenders had no control over when or how much they would receive back from such sales, their rights under contract were being infringed upon without due process of law as required by both federal and state constitutions. In conclusion, Justice Field believed that while states have an interest in collecting taxes owed them promptly through whatever means necessary, they must still respect citizens' contractual rights when doing so.