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An important case in the U. S. Supreme Court, decided in 1827. Ogden, of Louisiana, declared upon certain bills of exchange drawn upon the defendant Saunders, a citizen of Kentucky, but then living in New York. Saunders pleaded a certificate of discharge under the Act of the New York Legislature of 1801 for the relief of insolvent debtors. The District Court of Louisiana found judgment for the plaintiff. On a writ of error the case was brought before the Supreme Court, which decided in 1827 that the power to pass bankruptcy laws did not belong exclusively to the United States, and that the fair exercise of that power by the States need not involve a violation of the obligation of contracts; but that the State law could not discharge a debt due to a citizen of another State.