STONE V.

MISSISSIPPI

PETITIONER

Stone

RESPONDENT

Mississippi

DOCKET NO.

None

DECIDED BY

Waite Court

CITATION

101 US 814 (1880)

ARGUED

Mar 4 - 5, 1880

DECIDED

May 10, 1880

Facts of the case

In 1867, the provisional state legislature of Mississippi chartered the Mississippi
Agricultural, Educational, and Manufacturing Aid Society. The Society was chartered to run
a lottery for the next 25 years; however, in 1868, a new constitution ratified by the people
outlawed lotteries in the state. John Stone and others associated with the Society were
arrested in 1874 for running a lottery. The Society claimed they were protected by the
provisions of their charter while the state declared that the subsequent enforcement
legislation had repealed the grant.

Question
Did Mississippi violate the Contract Clause by repealing the Society's grant?

Conclusion
A unanimous Court found that the Mississippi classification of lotteries as outlawed acts
was valid. The State legislature do not have the power to bind the decisions of the people
and future legislatures. The Court stated that no legislation had the authority to bargain
away the public health and morals. The Court viewed the lottery as a vice that threatened
the public health and morals. The contracts protected in the Constitution are property
rights, not governmental rights. Therefore, one can only obtain temporary suspension of
the governmental rights (in this case, the right to outlaw actions) in a charter which can be
revoked by the will of the people.