Court Opinion

ID: 9418507
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-02 22:28:39.509594+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:22:04.408048
License: Public Domain

Mr. Justice McReynolds,
concurring.
I am unable to concur in all said to support the conclusion adopted by the Court. To me the result seems out of harmony with the theory upon which recent opinions proceed. There is unfortunate confusion concerning the general subject and certainly some pronouncement that can abide is desirable.
Apparently no great harm, and possibly some good, will follow a flat declaration that irrespective of analogies and *522for purposes of taxation we will hold interstate commerce ends when an original package reaches the consignee and comes to rest within a State, although intended for sale there in unbroken form. It may be said that the effect on interstate commerce is not substantial and too remote, notwithstanding the rather clear logic of Brown v. Maryland, 12 Wheat. 419, to the contrary and the much discussed theory respecting freedom of interstate commerce from interference by the States, announced and developed long after Woodruff v. Parham (1868), 8 Wall. 123. Logic and taxation are not always the best of friends.