 The degree of permissible government interference in corporate affairs was controversial from the earliest days of the nation.In 1790, John Marshall, a private attorney and a veteran of the Continental Army, represented the board of the College of William and Mary, in litigation that required him to defend the corporation's right to reorganize itself and in the process remove professors, "The Rev John Bracken v. The Visitors of Wm & Mary College" (7 Va. 573; 1790 Supreme Court of Virginia).The Supreme Court of Virginia ruled that the original Crown charter provided the authority for the corporation's Board of Visitors to make changes including the reorganization.