In the 1906 case of Delamater v. South Dakota, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in favor of South Dakota regarding a dispute over taxation on railroad property owned by non-residents. The plaintiff, Delamater, was a New York resident who owned shares in several railroads operating within South Dakota and argued that his property should not be subject to state taxes as he was not a resident there. However, the court held that states have jurisdiction to tax personal property located within their borders regardless of where the owner resides. This decision upheld principles established earlier in Pullman's Palace Car Co v Pennsylvania (1891), which stated that tangible personal properties are taxable at their situs or location rather than at owner’s domicile.

In the dissenting opinion for Delamater v. South Dakota, it was argued that the state of South Dakota did not have jurisdiction over a non-resident defendant in this case. The dissenting justices believed that due process rights were violated because the defendant had no real connection to or presence in South Dakota and therefore should not be subject to its laws and courts. They contended that serving notice outside of a state's borders does not provide sufficient grounds for personal jurisdiction unless there is some meaningful contact with the state by the defendant. This interpretation would uphold individual liberty against arbitrary power, which they saw as fundamental to American constitutional law.