Fletcher v. Peck was a court case from 1810. The Georgia legislature, swayed by a bribe, gave 35 million acres of Mississippi land to private speculators. The next legislature cancelled the original ruling. Then the Supreme Court decided the grant was a contract and state law cannot impair contracts. This is one of the first court cases to illustrate the power of the Supreme Court to invalidate state laws conflicting with the federal Constitution. Their decision protected the peoples' rights against popular pressures.