In the case of Neil, Moore & Company v. The State of Ohio, the plaintiffs argued that a state law was unconstitutional as it violated their rights under Article I Section 10 of the U.S. Constitution which prohibits states from passing laws impairing contracts between citizens and foreign governments or other states. Specifically, they argued that an Ohio statute requiring them to pay taxes on goods imported into Ohio by another company with whom they had contracted for such services impaired their contract in violation of this constitutional provision. The Supreme Court disagreed and held that since there was no direct impairment to any existing contract between Neil, Moore & Company and either a foreign government or another state, but rather only an indirect effect due to taxation imposed upon those goods imported by another party with whom they had contracted for such services; thus there was no violation of Article I Section 10 as applied in this case.

In this case, the Supreme Court was asked to decide whether a state law that imposed an annual tax on all persons engaged in selling goods at retail within Ohio was constitutional. The majority of the court held that it was not unconstitutional and upheld the law. However, Justice McLean dissented from this opinion and argued that such a tax violated both due process and equal protection principles under the Fourteenth Amendment. He reasoned that since there were no distinctions made between different classes of retailers or any other criteria for taxation, it constituted an arbitrary exercise of power by the State which could not be justified as being necessary for public safety or welfare. Furthermore, he noted that while some states had adopted similar taxes with certain limitations or exemptions based on classifications related to business size or type of merchandise sold, Ohio's statute did not contain any such provisions making its application even more unfair and unreasonable than those laws found in other states.