By an 8-0 vote, the Supreme Court upheld a South Carolina statute that imposed a tax on insurance premiums for policies written in South Carolina by foreign (out-of-state) insurance companies, but not on policies written by domestic companies. Prudential, a New Jersey company, sued, asserting that the South Carolina law interfered with an interstate commerce power that properly belonged to the federal government. Although supported by the Court’s decisions in United States v. South-Eastern Underwriters Association[case]South-Eastern Underwriters Association, United States v.[South-Eastern Underwriters Association, United States v.] (1944) and Cooley v. Board of Wardens of the Port of Philadelphia[case]Cooley v. Board of Wardens of the Port of Philadelphia[Cooley v. Board of Wardens of the Port of Philadelphia] (1852), Prudential did not prevail because Congress had explicitly granted the right to regulate insurance to the states and not simply remained silent in the face of a state-based intrusion, as it had in previous cases.Commerce clause;Prudential Insurance Co. v. Benjamin[Prudential Insurance Co. v. Benjamin]Taxation;Prudential Insurance Co. v. Benjamin[Prudential Insurance Co. v. Benjamin]

Commerce, regulation of

Cooley v. Board of Wardens of the Port of Philadelphia

South-Eastern Underwriters Association, United States v.