The City of Kenosha v. Joshua F. Lamson was a case heard by the United States Supreme Court in 1869. The case centered around the question of whether the City of Kenosha had the right to tax Lamson's property, which was located outside of the city limits. Lamson argued that the city had no authority to tax his property, as it was not within the city limits. The Supreme Court ultimately sided with Lamson, ruling that the city had no authority to tax property outside of its boundaries. The Court held that the city's power to tax was limited to its own boundaries, and that it could not extend its power beyond those boundaries. This ruling established a precedent that cities cannot tax property outside of their boundaries, and that the power to tax is limited to the city's own boundaries.

In the case of The City of Kenosha v. Joshua F. Lamson, the Supreme Court was asked to decide whether a municipal ordinance that prohibited non-residents from selling goods and merchandise within city limits without first obtaining a license violated the privileges and immunities clause of Article IV, Section 2 of the United States Constitution. In an 8-1 decision, Justice Field delivered a dissenting opinion in which he argued that while it is true that states have broad powers to regulate commerce within their borders, they cannot do so in such a way as to discriminate against citizens from other states or deprive them of their constitutional rights. He further argued that since this ordinance did not apply equally to all persons regardless of residence status – i.e., only those who were not residents had to obtain licenses – it constituted an unconstitutional discrimination against non-residents and thus violated both state law and federal constitutional protections for interstate commerce.