The Elizabeth Jones case was a dispute between two parties over the ownership of a vessel. Elizabeth Jones, the plaintiff, claimed that she had purchased the vessel from the defendant, Willis, and that he had failed to deliver it to her. Willis argued that he had never sold the vessel to Jones and that he was the rightful owner. The Supreme Court ultimately sided with Jones, ruling that she had a valid claim to the vessel. The Court found that Jones had provided sufficient evidence to prove that she had purchased the vessel from Willis, and that Willis had failed to deliver it to her. The Court also found that Willis had failed to provide any evidence to support his claim of ownership. As a result, the Court ruled that Jones was the rightful owner of the vessel.

In the case of The Elizabeth Jones, the Supreme Court was asked to determine whether a vessel that had been sold in good faith by its owner could be seized and forfeited for violation of customs laws. In a dissenting opinion, Justice Field argued that it would be unjust to impose such forfeiture on an innocent purchaser who had no knowledge or involvement with any illegal activity. He reasoned that if this were allowed, then all purchasers of vessels would have to bear the risk of potential forfeiture even though they may not have known about any violations committed by previous owners. Furthermore, he noted that there was no evidence presented at trial showing bad faith on behalf of the purchaser and thus it should not be assumed as true without proof. As such, Justice Field concluded that imposing forfeiture in this situation would constitute an unreasonable exercise of power over private property rights and should therefore be denied.