In the case of Union Refrigerator Transit Company v. Kentucky, 1905, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that a state could not tax personal property owned by a corporation from another state but used within its borders for business purposes if that property was continuously moving in interstate commerce. The Union Refrigerator Transit Company, incorporated in Maine and operating refrigerator cars on railroads throughout various states including Kentucky, challenged an assessment imposed by Kentucky on its rolling stock located within the state during part of each year. The court held that such taxation violated both due process under the Fourteenth Amendment and interfered with interstate commerce as protected by Article I Section 8 Clause 3 of the Constitution (the Commerce Clause). This decision reinforced principles limiting individual states' ability to impose taxes or regulations which might disrupt or burden interstate commercial activities.

The dissenting opinion in the case of Union Refrigerator Transit Company v. Kentucky argued that the state tax imposed on the company was not unconstitutional. The dissenting justices believed that a corporation, like an individual, should be taxed based on its property within a state's jurisdiction and this principle does not violate any constitutional rights or protections. They contended that if a corporation operates and has property in multiple states, it is reasonable for each of those states to impose taxes relative to the proportion of business conducted there. This approach would ensure fairness by preventing corporations from avoiding taxation by simply incorporating in one state while conducting most operations elsewhere. Therefore, they disagreed with majority’s view which held such taxation as discriminatory against interstate commerce.