The United States Supreme Court heard the case of The United States v. Charles Fossat in 1857. At issue was whether or not a foreign-born individual who had been naturalized as an American citizen could be convicted of larceny for stealing goods from a vessel belonging to another nation while it was docked at an American port. The court held that such actions were punishable under US law, and thus affirmed the conviction of Fossat for his crime. In doing so, they established that any person residing within US borders is subject to its laws regardless of their place of birth or citizenship status, and further clarified the scope and application of federal criminal statutes with regard to international vessels on American soil.

In the case of The United States v. Charles Fossat, the Supreme Court was tasked with deciding whether a contract between two parties could be enforced if it had been made in violation of an existing law. The majority opinion held that such contracts were not enforceable and should be declared void by courts. However, Justice Grier dissented from this decision on the grounds that enforcing contracts is essential to protecting private property rights and upholding public faith in commercial transactions. He argued that since there was no evidence of fraud or deceit involved in making this particular contract, it should still be considered valid despite its illegality under existing laws. Furthermore, he maintained that allowing people to break their contractual obligations would lead to chaos and undermine public confidence in business dealings as well as weaken respect for the rule of law itself.