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Constitutional Law--Commerce Clause--Due Process--State Taxation Of Interstate Barges, E. Blythe Stason, Jr.

Michigan Law Review

Action was brought to recover ad valorem taxes assessed and collected by the City of New Orleans and the State of Louisiana on plaintiff's freight ba1ges used in interstate commerce. Plaintiff was a foreign corporation, and its barges were enrolled at ports outside Louisiana but were not taxed by the state of incorporation. They moved, without a fixed schedule, on the Mississippi River. The tax was apportioned on the basis of miles travelled in Louisiana to miles travelled everywhere. Plaintiff argued that the tax violated the due process and commerce clauses of the Constitution because the vessels acquired no tax …