The case of Home Insurance and Trust Company v. Tennessee and Shelby County in 1895 revolved around the taxation laws applied to insurance companies operating within the state. The plaintiff, Home Insurance and Trust Company, a New York-based corporation, argued that it was being unfairly taxed by Tennessee for conducting business within its borders. They claimed this violated both their Fourteenth Amendment rights (which guarantees equal protection under law) as well as an existing tax statute which they believed exempted them from such taxes. However, the Supreme Court ruled against them stating that there was no violation of either constitutional or statutory provisions because all corporations doing similar business were treated equally under Tennessee's taxing scheme regardless of where they were incorporated.

In the dissenting opinion for Home Insurance and Trust Company v. Tennessee and Shelby County, Justice Harlan argued that the majority's decision was inconsistent with previous rulings of the Court. He contended that it violated principles of federalism by allowing a state to tax an institution chartered by another state, which he believed infringed upon its sovereignty. Furthermore, he disagreed with the majority's interpretation of what constituted "property" under Tennessee law; in his view, shares in a trust company did not qualify as such because they were merely evidence of an interest in property rather than actual property themselves. Therefore, taxing them would be akin to double taxation - once on the underlying assets held by the trust company and again on shareholders' interests therein - which he deemed unjustifiable.