In the case of William S. Hungerford v. John Sigerson, the Supreme Court was asked to decide whether a contract between two parties could be enforced when it had been made without consideration and in violation of an existing law. The appellant, Hungerford, argued that he should be able to enforce his contract with Sigerson because there was no evidence that either party intended to violate any laws or regulations at the time they entered into their agreement. However, the court found in favor of Sigerson and held that contracts which are illegal cannot be enforced by courts even if both parties were unaware of its illegality at the time it was made. This decision established precedent for future cases involving contracts which have been formed without consideration or in violation of existing laws; such agreements will not be recognized as legally binding by courts unless otherwise specified by statute or other legal authority.

In the case of William S. Hungerford v. John Sigerson, the Supreme Court was tasked with determining whether a contract between two parties for the sale of land could be enforced despite one party's failure to pay taxes on it prior to executing said contract. The majority opinion held that such contracts were not enforceable and thus dismissed Hungerford's appeal; however, Justice Grier dissented from this ruling and argued that while tax delinquency should certainly be taken into consideration when evaluating a contract, it should not necessarily invalidate an otherwise valid agreement between two parties. He reasoned that if courts were allowed to disregard contracts due solely to unpaid taxes then individuals would have no incentive whatsoever to pay them in good faith as they could simply enter into new agreements without consequence after defaulting on their obligations under previous ones. Therefore, he concluded that unless there is evidence of fraud or other misconduct by either party involved in the transaction then any existing contractual obligation must still stand regardless of whether or not taxes had been paid at its inception.