In the case of Singer Sewing Machine Company of New Jersey v. Benedict, Treasurer, &c. Of Denver, Colorado (1912), the Supreme Court was asked to determine whether a city ordinance that required businesses with headquarters outside of the state to pay an annual license fee violated the Constitution's Commerce Clause or Fourteenth Amendment. The Singer Sewing Machine Company argued that it did because they were being taxed for doing interstate business while in-state companies were not subjected to this tax. However, the court ruled against them stating that as long as there is no discrimination against out-of-state companies and if such taxes are applied equally on all businesses operating within its jurisdiction regardless of where their main office is located then it does not violate either clause in question.

The dissenting opinion in the Singer Sewing Machine Company of New Jersey v. Benedict case argued that the tax imposed by Denver, Colorado was not unconstitutional. The justice believed that it did not violate the Fourteenth Amendment's Equal Protection Clause because it did not discriminate against out-of-state corporations. Instead, he viewed it as a legitimate exercise of state power to levy taxes on businesses operating within its jurisdiction. He also disagreed with the majority's interpretation of previous court rulings and maintained that they allowed states to impose different tax rates on foreign and domestic corporations if there were reasonable grounds for doing so.