Constitutional Opinion No. 2026-0752
Case Information
- Content Scored
- Ware v. Hylton, 3 U.S. 199 (1796)
- Source
- Supreme Court of the United States, U.S. Reports Vol. 3 (3 Dallas)
- Author
- Justices Chase, Wilson, Cushing, Paterson (seriatim majority); Iredell adhering for the debtor
- Publication Date
- 1796-02-01
- Content Type
- Judicial Opinion / Legal-Normative Text
- Opinion Issued
- 2026-07-20
- AFCS Version
- 1.0
Holding
This case forces a genuine collision between the Standard's structural commitments and its America-First instinct, scored by holding both in view. The Court held that Article 4 of the 1783 Treaty of Peace — "creditors on either side shall meet with no lawful impediment to the recovery of the full value, in sterling money, of all bona fide debts heretofore contracted" — is, under the Supremacy Clause, the supreme law of the land, nullifying Virginia's 1777 law that let British debts be discharged by payment into the state loan office. Cushing: "here is a treaty, the supreme law, which over-rules all state laws upon the subject, to all intents and purposes." The alignment runs strong on four threads: a foundational, text-faithful reading of the Supremacy Clause, still good law (Article XVII); the sanctity of public faith and honest debt — "public faith so sacred, when once pledged" (Article XVIII); protection of the creditor's vested contractual right (Article IX); and an honest-money dimension, the treaty's sterling-payment demand annihilating "all tender laws" that would pay honest debts in depreciated paper (Article X). Against these: the immediate effect made an American debtor pay a British former-enemy creditor a debt once already paid (Article I, mixed), and Virginia's confiscation power was subordinated to the federal treaty (Article XII, mild). Both are tempered — the treaty secured America's independence, boundaries, and fisheries, and treaty-keeping is itself the national interest; treaty supremacy is textual and state-ratified. Scored as Legal/Normative text (85/15). Tier 1 nets to 71; the result is 74 — Mostly America First. Principle scored, not result.
It is the judgment of this Court that Opinion No. 2026-0752 is hereby entered into the record, in accordance with the America First Constitutional Standard. The score stands. The reasoning is published. The record is public.