Georgia v. Brailsford
Supreme Court of the United States · 1794-02-17 · cited 108×
Georgia v. Brailsford concerned whether certain debts owed to British subjects and South Carolina citizens had been confiscated by a Georgia statute enacted during the Revolutionary War. The court determined that the debts were not confiscated but only sequestered, so the creditors' rights to recover revived at the conclusion of the war under both the law of nations and the Treaty of Peace. The reasoning rested on the specific wording of the Georgia and South Carolina statutes, which did not effect a complete forfeiture, and on the principle that sequestration does not divest ownership. The jury returned a verdict for the defendants after receiving the court's instructions on these points.
