Ogden v. Saunders (1827) is the U.S. Supreme Court decision limited application of the U.S. Constitution and its Obligation of Contract Clause to state laws.[1] Chief Justice John Marshall, who opposed state power, wrote his only dissent in his 35-year tenure on the Court.
Ogden v. Saunders refused to apply the Obligation of Contract Clause to prospective or future contracts. Accordingly, it opened the door to state regulation of contracts, and placed nearly all state economic regulation beyond the limitations of the U.S. Constitution. It was not until after the Civil War when some new constitutional limitations on state regulation appeared again, first in the form of the dormant Commerce Clause for interstate agreements, and then in the form of liberty of contract under the Due Process Clause in Lochner doctrine.