Gerrit Schimmelpennich and Jan Adrian Toe Lear, two aliens, brought a case against William Bayard, William Bayard Jr., Robert Bayard and Jacob Le Roy who were all citizens of the state of New York. The Supreme Court heard this case to determine if an alien could bring suit in federal court for land that was located within a state. The issue at hand was whether or not aliens had the same rights as citizens when it came to bringing suits in federal courts over lands located within states. After hearing both sides of the argument, the Supreme Court ruled that aliens did have such rights under Article III Section 2 Clause 1 of the United States Constitution which grants jurisdiction to federal courts over cases involving diversity among parties from different states regardless of their citizenship status. This ruling established precedent for future cases regarding similar issues between citizens and non-citizens alike.

In the case of Schimmelpenninck and Toe Lear vs. Bayard, the dissenting opinion was that aliens should not be allowed to bring suit against citizens in a state court. The majority opinion held that an alien could sue a citizen in a state court if they had been living there for some time and were considered part of the community. However, Justice Story argued that this would lead to confusion as it would allow aliens from different countries with different laws to bring suits against citizens without any clear rules or regulations governing them. He also argued that allowing such suits could create animosity between citizens and aliens which is contrary to public policy. In conclusion, Justice Story believed it was better for Congress rather than individual states to decide whether or not an alien can sue a citizen in their courts since federal law applies equally across all states regardless of citizenship status.