In the 1931 case Hodge Drive-It-Yourself Co. et al. v. Cincinnati et al., the U.S Supreme Court ruled in favor of Cincinnati, upholding a city ordinance that required businesses renting or leasing vehicles to obtain a license and pay an annual fee of $200 per vehicle for the first five cars and $50 for each additional car. The plaintiffs, who were engaged in such business but did not have physical locations within city limits, argued that this law violated their rights under both state law and the Fourteenth Amendment's Equal Protection Clause by imposing undue burdens on interstate commerce. However, the court disagreed with these arguments stating that there was no discrimination against non-residents as they were treated equally with residents under this ordinance; hence it does not violate any constitutional provision.

In the dissenting opinion for Hodge Drive-It-Yourself Co. et al. v. Cincinnati et al., Justice Stone argued that the majority's decision to uphold a city ordinance requiring licensing and regulation of car rental businesses was an unconstitutional interference with interstate commerce. He contended that while states have the power to regulate local matters, they cannot use this authority in ways that discriminate against or burden interstate commerce, which is under federal jurisdiction according to the Commerce Clause of the U.S Constitution. In his view, by imposing additional requirements on out-of-state companies seeking to rent cars within its borders, Cincinnati was effectively favoring local businesses at their expense and thus interfering with free trade among states.