During the Revolutionary War, Virginia passed a law allowing them to confiscate the property of Loyalists. Land owned by a Loyalist, Martin, was confiscated and transferred to David Hunter. After the war ended, the United States and Great Britain entered into Treaty of Paris, which protected the right of British citizens to own land in the United States and nullified previous confiscations.

Martin claimed title to land based on his inheritance from a Lord Fairfax, a British citizen who owned the property. Hunter, however, claimed Virginia had taken the land before the treaty went into effect. The Virginia Supreme Court held that the Treaty of Paris didn’t apply to the dispute between Martin and Hunter, therefore upholding the confiscation. In Fairfax’s Devisee v. Hunter’s Lessee, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the Treaty of Paris did apply to the case and remanded it to the Virginia Supreme Court. The Virginia Supreme Court then ruled that the U.S. Supreme Court lacks authority over cases originating in state courts.