ABSTRACT
As President Franklin D. Roosevelt and Congress worked at the national level on legislation to stimulate economic recovery, provide relief to those in need, and return the nation to economic health, a number of state legislatures also took action to deal with the crisis. The Minnesota law permitted debtors to petition a state trial court to postpone foreclosure of their mortgages for up to two years, with the stipulation that they pay monthly installments. John and Rosella Blaisdell, residents of Min-neapolis, fell behind on their regular mortgage payments, and they applied for such an extension. Chief Justice Charles Evans Hughes wrote the majority opinion, holding that there was no Contracts Clause violation. He said that although the Minnesota law modified the contract contained in the mortgage, it was a temporary measure enacted to deal with an emergency situation, the economic crisis gripping the state and nation.
