In the case of Champlain Realty Company v. Town of Brattleboro, 1922, the U.S Supreme Court was asked to determine whether a Vermont state law that allowed towns to tax non-resident landowners at higher rates than resident landowners violated the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. The Champlain Realty Company, a New York-based company owning property in Brattleboro, Vermont argued that it was being unfairly taxed compared to local residents. However, after reviewing the case and considering precedent from other cases involving taxation disputes between states and out-of-state entities or individuals (such as corporations), the court ruled against Champlain Realty Company. It held that differential taxing did not violate equal protection rights because there were legitimate reasons for treating resident and non-resident taxpayers differently - such as additional administrative costs associated with collecting taxes from nonresidents.

In the dissenting opinion for Champlain Realty Company v. Town of Brattleboro, Justice Holmes argued that Vermont's tax assessment on the company was not unconstitutional. He disagreed with the majority’s view that it violated due process and equal protection clauses under the Fourteenth Amendment. According to him, there was no evidence showing a clear intent by Vermont officials to discriminate against out-of-state corporations or any proof of arbitrary action in their tax assessments. Furthermore, he believed that states should have broad discretion in taxation matters unless they clearly violate constitutional principles or rights. The justice also emphasized that courts should be cautious about interfering with state taxation systems based on mere suspicions of unfairness or inequality without concrete evidence.