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Supreme Court Rules States Can Require Online Retailers To Collect Sales Tax (npr.org)
New submitter zippo01 shares a report: Online shopping will soon become more expensive after the U.S. Supreme court ruled Thursday that states can require internet retailers to collect sales taxes. The 5-4 decision broke with 50 years' worth of legal rulings that barred states from imposing sales taxes on most purchases their residents make from out-of-state retailers. The decision was a victory for South Dakota, which had asked the court to uphold its recently passed law imposing an internet sales tax. "Our state is losing millions for education, health care and infrastructure, and our citizens are harmed by an uneven playing field," said Marty Jackley, South Dakota's attorney general.
The vote breakdown on this decision was really weird. Voting in favor of requiring online retailers to collect sales tax were Justices Kennedy, Alito, Thomas, Ginsburg and Gorsuch. Justices Breyer, Sotomayor and Kagan joined Chief Justice Roberts in the dissent.
I wonder if Trump ever foresaw his boy Gorsuch and Ruth Bader Ginsburg joining on a 5-4 decision.
You are welcome on my lawn.
Remember this the next time Samuel Alito, Neil Gorsuch or Clarence Thomas talk about the following the original text of the constitution.
Heh... Yes this is a solid example of why originalists are so full of shit. It's almost always an excuse to justify some sort of behavior that is abhorrent under current social norms or to try stem the tide of political change that some people (usually conservatives) disapprove of. Originalists tend to ignore this principle when it is convenient for them but shout loudly about it when it helps whatever cause they are pushing at the time.
In this case internet commerce has changed the game dramatically and the laws were written in an earlier era with different circumstances. I haven't looked closely enough at this case to decide whether I agree with the decision but it seems clear enough that the old understanding regarding sales tax collection between states no longer makes much sense in the internet era. Change has to happen one way or another so such a decision isn't surprising even if it ultimately turns out to be a poor one. Maybe this will force Congress to actually address the elephant in the room and establish a new framework for States to collect sales tax that makes sense. (Dare to dream...)