Legal Matters: Direct Marketers Take Colorado to the Supreme Court

Impact to Online Retailers
When an out-of-state company is forced to bring its federal constitutional claims (e.g., Commerce Clause, Due Process, Equal Protection, etc.) before a state court judge rather than to a federal court, a common fear is that the state tribunal may be biased against the out-of-state company and that the scales of justice will be tilted in favor of the state. In the current case, Colorado has enacted a law targeted exclusively at companies that are not located in the state, are not Colorado taxpayers, have not been issued an assessment for any tax, and do not owe the state any money.