The Heirs of General Lafayette, Plaintiffs in Error, v. Joseph Kenton et al., was a case heard by the US Supreme Court in 1855. The dispute centered around whether or not certain lands were part of the estate left to General Lafayette's heirs upon his death. The plaintiffs argued that they had inherited these lands and should be able to take possession of them; however, defendants claimed that their title was superior due to an earlier grant from Virginia which gave them rights over the land. After much deliberation and review of evidence presented by both sides, it was determined that the original grant given by Virginia did indeed give priority rights over this land to those named on it - thus ruling against the claims made by General Lafayette's heirs who sought ownership through inheritance.

In the case of The Heirs of General Lafayette, Plaintiffs in Error v. Joseph Kenton et al., and Edward C. Carter et al., the dissenting opinion was that the court should have dismissed both cases as moot due to a lack of jurisdiction over them. The majority had held that because there were no parties with standing before the court, they lacked jurisdiction to hear either case; however, this did not mean that their decision could not be reviewed by another tribunal or authority at some point in time if necessary. Furthermore, it was argued that even though there may have been an issue between two private individuals concerning property rights which could potentially affect other persons who were not present before the court at any given time, such matters are best left for resolution outside of a judicial forum since they do not involve public interests or questions involving legal principles applicable to all citizens alike.