Quill Corp. v. North Dakota, 504 U.S. 298, 22 (1992)

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Cite as: 504 U. S. 298 (1992)

Opinion of Scalia, J.

may be that "the better part of both wisdom and valor is to respect the judgment of the other branches of the Government." Id., at 638.

The judgment of the Supreme Court of North Dakota is reversed, and the case is remanded for further proceedings not inconsistent with this opinion.

It is so ordered.

Justice Scalia, with whom Justice Kennedy and Justice Thomas join, concurring in part and concurring in the judgment.

National Bellas Hess, Inc. v. Department of Revenue of Ill., 386 U. S. 753 (1967), held that the Due Process and Commerce Clauses of the Constitution prohibit a State from imposing the duty of use-tax collection and payment upon a seller whose only connection with the State is through common carrier or the United States mail. I agree with the Court that the Due Process Clause holding of Bellas Hess should be overruled. Even before Bellas Hess, we had held, correctly I think, that state regulatory jurisdiction could be asserted on the basis of contacts with the State through the United States mail. See Travelers Health Assn. v. Virginia ex rel. State Corp. Comm'n, 339 U. S. 643, 646-650 (1950) (blue sky laws). It is difficult to discern any principled basis for distinguishing between jurisdiction to regulate and jurisdiction to tax. As an original matter, it might have been possible to distinguish between jurisdiction to tax and jurisdiction to compel collection of taxes as agent for the State, but we have rejected that. National Geographic Society v. California Bd. of Equalization, 430 U. S. 551, 558 (1977); Scripto, Inc. v. Carson, 362 U. S. 207, 211 (1960). I agree with the Court, moreover, that abandonment of Bellas Hess' due process holding is compelled by reasoning "[c]omparable" to that contained in our post-1967 cases dealing with state jurisdiction to adjudicate. Ante, at 308. I do not understand this to mean that the due process standards for

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