The Supreme Court ruled Tuesday in favor of states that say financial instruments that are abandoned should go to the states where they were purchased, not to where the company that sold them is located.

Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson wrote the opinion for the unanimous court. It is her first time writing a majority opinion on a fully argued case, though she had filed a dissent.

The case involved MoneyGram drafts that were bought but never collected or cashed.

Since MoneyGram is based in Delaware, that state said it should be able to collect those abandoned purchases. Other states where the drafts were bought said the money should be considered abandoned in those locations instead.

The high court ruled that MoneyGram is similar to a money order and Supreme Court precedent says money orders are abandoned, Justice Jackson wrote.

• Stephen Dinan can be reached at sdinan@washingtontimes.com.