Contract Clause of the U.S. Constitution
E938878
The Contract Clause of the U.S. Constitution is a provision in Article I, Section 10 that restricts states from passing laws that impair the obligation of existing contracts.
All labels observed (4)
How this entity was disambiguated
This entity first appeared as the object of triple T11647642 — resolving that mention is where its identity was fixed. The disambiguator weighed these candidate entities and picked the highlighted one (or “None”, minting a new entity). This is how homonymy is resolved: the same surface form can point to different entities.
NED1
Entity disambiguation (via context triple)
gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07
Target entity: Contract Clause of the U.S. Constitution Context triple: [Charles River Bridge v. Warren Bridge, hasLegalIssue, Contract Clause of the U.S. Constitution]
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A.
Compact Clause of the United States Constitution
The Compact Clause of the United States Constitution is the provision that restricts states from entering into agreements or compacts with other states or foreign powers without the consent of Congress.
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B.
Interstate Commerce Clause of the United States Constitution
The Interstate Commerce Clause of the United States Constitution is a provision in Article I, Section 8 that grants Congress the power to regulate trade and commerce among the several states, forming a key basis for federal regulatory authority.
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C.
Guarantee Clause
The Guarantee Clause is a provision of the U.S. Constitution that obligates the federal government to ensure every state maintains a republican form of government and protection against invasion and domestic violence.
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D.
Article VI, Clause 3 of the United States Constitution
Article VI, Clause 3 of the United States Constitution is the provision that mandates all federal and state officials be bound by oath to support the Constitution while prohibiting any religious test as a qualification for public office.
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E.
Necessary and Proper Clause
The Necessary and Proper Clause is a provision in the U.S. Constitution that grants Congress the authority to enact laws needed to execute its enumerated powers, forming the basis for implied federal powers.
- F. None of above. chosen
- G. Unsure - the case is ambiguous/there is not enough information to decide.
NED2
Entity disambiguation (via description)
gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07
Target entity: Contract Clause of the U.S. Constitution Target entity description: The Contract Clause of the U.S. Constitution is a provision in Article I, Section 10 that restricts states from passing laws that impair the obligation of existing contracts.
-
A.
Compact Clause of the United States Constitution
The Compact Clause of the United States Constitution is the provision that restricts states from entering into agreements or compacts with other states or foreign powers without the consent of Congress.
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B.
Interstate Commerce Clause of the United States Constitution
The Interstate Commerce Clause of the United States Constitution is a provision in Article I, Section 8 that grants Congress the power to regulate trade and commerce among the several states, forming a key basis for federal regulatory authority.
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C.
Guarantee Clause
The Guarantee Clause is a provision of the U.S. Constitution that obligates the federal government to ensure every state maintains a republican form of government and protection against invasion and domestic violence.
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D.
Article VI, Clause 3 of the United States Constitution
Article VI, Clause 3 of the United States Constitution is the provision that mandates all federal and state officials be bound by oath to support the Constitution while prohibiting any religious test as a qualification for public office.
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E.
Necessary and Proper Clause
The Necessary and Proper Clause is a provision in the U.S. Constitution that grants Congress the authority to enact laws needed to execute its enumerated powers, forming the basis for implied federal powers.
- F. None of above. chosen
Statements (47)
| Predicate | Object |
|---|---|
| instanceOf |
constitutional clause
ⓘ
legal doctrine ⓘ |
| adoptedOn | 1788 ⓘ |
| aimedAt |
preventing state interference with private credit markets
ⓘ
promoting economic stability and confidence in contracts ⓘ |
| appliesTo |
U.S. states
ⓘ
state legislation ⓘ |
| bindingOn | all U.S. states ⓘ |
| cameIntoForce | 1789 ⓘ |
| category |
U.S. constitutional law
ⓘ
U.S. economic and commercial law ⓘ |
| codifiedIn | Article I, Section 10, Clause 1 of the United States Constitution NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| doesNotApplyTo |
federal government
ⓘ
purely private conduct without state action ⓘ |
| earlyLeadingCase |
Dartmouth College v. Woodward
NERFINISHED
ⓘ
Fletcher v. Peck NERFINISHED ⓘ Sturges v. Crowninshield NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| governs | relationship between state regulatory power and private contracts ⓘ |
| hasJurisdiction |
federal courts
NERFINISHED
ⓘ
state courts ⓘ |
| hasLanguageType | prohibitory clause ⓘ |
| hasText | No State shall ... pass any ... Law impairing the Obligation of Contracts ⓘ |
| historicalContext | drafted during the Constitutional Convention of 1787 ⓘ |
| historicalImportance | central to early Supreme Court protection of economic rights ⓘ |
| inspiredBy | concerns about debtor-relief laws under the Articles of Confederation ⓘ |
| interpretedBy | Supreme Court of the United States ⓘ |
| legalEffect |
limits state police power over private contracts
ⓘ
protects the obligation of existing contracts ⓘ |
| locatedInDocument | United States Constitution NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| majorCase |
Allied Structural Steel Co. v. Spannaus
NERFINISHED
ⓘ
Energy Reserves Group, Inc. v. Kansas Power & Light Co. NERFINISHED ⓘ Home Building & Loan Association v. Blaisdell NERFINISHED ⓘ United States Trust Co. v. New Jersey NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| modernInterpretation | allows reasonable and necessary state regulation of contracts for legitimate public purposes ⓘ |
| partOf |
Article I of the United States Constitution
NERFINISHED
ⓘ
Article I, Section 10 of the United States Constitution NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| prohibits |
state laws impairing the obligation of contracts
ⓘ
state laws that retroactively interfere with existing contracts ⓘ |
| protects | vested contractual rights ⓘ |
| protectsAgainst |
state alteration of contractual remedies in a way that substantially impairs obligations
ⓘ
state repudiation of their own contractual obligations ⓘ |
| relatedTo |
Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment
NERFINISHED
ⓘ
Impairment of contracts doctrine NERFINISHED ⓘ Takings Clause of the Fifth Amendment NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| scope |
applies to state laws with retroactive effect on contracts
ⓘ
covers both public and private contracts ⓘ |
| subjectTo | judicial balancing of state police power and contract rights ⓘ |
How these facts were elicited
The pipeline generated the facts above by prompting gpt-5.1 with this entity's name + description and the instruction below.
Instruction
You are a knowledge base construction expert. Given a subject entity and a description of it, return factual statements that you know for the subject as a JSON list of dictionaries(triples), where keys must be "subject", "predicate" and "object". The number of facts may be very high, between 25 to 50 or more, for very popular subjects. For less popular subjects, the number of facts can be very low, like 5 or 10. # Requirements - If you don't know the subject at all, return an empty list. - If the subject is not a named entity, return an empty list. - Include at least one triple where predicate is "instanceOf". - Do not get too wordy. - Separate several objects into multiple triples with one object.
Input
Subject: Contract Clause of the U.S. Constitution Description of subject: The Contract Clause of the U.S. Constitution is a provision in Article I, Section 10 that restricts states from passing laws that impair the obligation of existing contracts.
Referenced by (7)
Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.
United States Trust Co. v. New Jersey
→
constitutionalProvisionInterpreted
→
Contract Clause of the U.S. Constitution
ⓘ
this entity surface form:
Contract Clause
Energy Reserves Group, Inc. v. Kansas Power & Light Co.
→
legalIssue
→
Contract Clause of the U.S. Constitution
ⓘ
this entity surface form:
Contract Clause of the United States Constitution
Energy Reserves Group, Inc. v. Kansas Power & Light Co.
→
holding
→
Contract Clause of the U.S. Constitution
ⓘ
this entity surface form:
The Kansas Natural Gas Price Protection Act did not violate the Contract Clause as applied to the contracts at issue.
this entity surface form:
Contract Clause of the United States Constitution
this entity surface form:
Contract Clause of the United States Constitution
this entity surface form:
Contract Clause of the United States Constitution