We first met Judge Skelly Wright in an earlier Stare DCisis, and today he again dropkicks the law forward in what is, in this DCist’s humble opinion, the most important case anyone will ever read in law school. It’s not hyperbole to say that if you read Williams v. Walker-Thomas, you understand the central tension in it, and you enjoy just how difficult it is, you have — congratulations — just completed the equivalent of your first year of law school.

The Walker-Thomas Furniture Store sits on Seventh Street in Northwest. In the days before Craigslist, you could buy dingy furniture in real stores, and pay on an installment plan. Walker-Thomas had such a plan, which it used to entice poor people, often welfare recipients with large families and little education, to buy entire sets of tables, chairs and stereo equipment with no upfront investment.

Under the contract, Walker-Thomas would take a pro-rata share of each payment and apply it to each of the pieces. This way, it kept a balance open on each item of furniture and retained title over the furniture until the buyer had paid off every last cent on every single item. Failure to pay meant that the buyer lost the living room, even if he had technically paid enough for the couch.

Defendant Williams was living on a $218 monthly check, which she used to provide for her seven children. She bought a $518 stereo from Walker-Thomas and later defaulted on the payment. Translate the cost of the stereo into today’s dollars, and you see just how much wider her eyes were than her wallet. On appeal, Williams argued that Walker-Thomas’s contracts could not, and should not, ever be enforced.