In the case of Nickey et al. v. Mississippi in 1933, the U.S Supreme Court ruled on a matter concerning taxation and interstate commerce. The appellants were out-of-state corporations that sold goods to customers in Mississippi but maintained no offices or employees within the state; instead, they shipped their products into Mississippi via common carrier or mail from outside states. They challenged a tax imposed by Mississippi law on businesses operating within its borders as an unconstitutional burden on interstate commerce. The court upheld the constitutionality of this tax, rejecting arguments that it violated either due process rights under Fourteenth Amendment or constituted an undue burden upon interstate commerce contrary to Article I Section 8 Clause 3 (the Commerce Clause) of Constitution. The court reasoned that while these companies did not have physical presence in state, they nonetheless enjoyed benefits provided by state such as protection under its laws for their business transactions and thus could be subjected to taxes without violating constitutional principles.

In the dissenting opinion for Nickey et al. v. Mississippi, it was argued that the majority's decision violated principles of due process and equal protection under the law as guaranteed by the Fourteenth Amendment. The dissenting justices believed that a state cannot arbitrarily discriminate against certain businesses or individuals without just cause or reasonable basis, which they felt was done in this case with regards to taxing out-of-state corporations at higher rates than domestic ones. They also disagreed with how Mississippi had classified different types of corporations for tax purposes, arguing it lacked rationality and fairness. Furthermore, they contended that such discriminatory taxation could potentially discourage interstate commerce and investment from outside entities into Mississippi, thus contradicting national economic policy goals aimed at promoting free trade among states.