In the 2007 case of CSX Transportation, Inc. v. Georgia State Board of Equalization et al., the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in favor of CSX Transportation, a freight railroad company that challenged its property tax assessment by the Georgia State Board of Equalization. The court held that federal courts have jurisdiction to hear challenges to state tax laws under the Railroad Revitalization and Regulatory Reform Act (4-R Act) which prohibits discriminatory taxation against railroads by states. The decision overturned an earlier ruling from a lower court which had dismissed CSX's lawsuit on grounds that it was barred by principles of comity - respect for state sovereignty in matters such as taxation policy - and thus should be heard in state rather than federal courts.

In the dissenting opinion for CSX Transportation, Inc. v. Georgia State Board of Equalization et al., Justice Ginsburg disagreed with the majority's interpretation of 49 U.S.C §11501(b)(1). She argued that this statute does not require a comparison between railroad property and other commercial and industrial property in the state to determine whether there is discrimination against rail transportation property. Instead, she believed that it only requires a determination if railroad properties are assessed at higher values than their true market value. Furthermore, she contended that even if comparisons were necessary under this law, they should be made within local assessment jurisdictions rather than statewide as done by the majority because tax assessments are typically conducted on a local level.