The Peake v. New Orleans case in 1890 revolved around the issue of taxation and its constitutionality under the Fourteenth Amendment. The plaintiff, Peake, was a stockholder in two railway companies that had been taxed by the city of New Orleans. He argued that this tax violated his rights as it was not applied uniformly across all property types within Louisiana state law, thus violating equal protection clauses. However, the Supreme Court ruled against him stating that while uniformity is required within geographical limits for which taxes are levied (such as states), there is no requirement for uniformity between different kinds of property or between different localities within a state unless specified by state law itself. Therefore, it upheld the right of municipalities to levy taxes on specific properties at rates differing from those applied to other properties.

In the dissenting opinion for Peake v. New Orleans, Justice Lamar argued that the city of New Orleans had no right to levy a tax on interstate commerce activities such as wharfage fees. He contended that this was an infringement upon federal jurisdiction and violated the Commerce Clause of the U.S Constitution which grants Congress exclusive power over interstate commerce. The justice believed that allowing local authorities to impose taxes on these activities would lead to inconsistencies in regulations across states, creating confusion and potentially hampering trade between states. Furthermore, he expressed concern about potential abuses by local governments if they were allowed unchecked authority over taxing interstate commercial transactions within their jurisdictions.