Opinion of the Court
stood, “each of the border States” could “enac[t] statutes essentially identical to Connecticut’s” in retaliation—a result often associated with avowedly protectionist economic policies. Id., at 339–340.
B
Petitioners insist that our reading of these cases misses the forest for the trees. On their account, Baldwin, Brown-Forman, and Healy didn’t just find an impermissible discriminatory purpose in the challenged laws; they also suggested an “almost per se” rule against state laws with “extraterritorial effects.” Brief for Petitioners 19, 23. In Healy, petitioners stress, the Court included language criticizing New York’s laws for having the “ ‘practical effect’ ” of “control[ling] commerce ‘occurring wholly outside the boundaries of [the] State.’ ” Brief for Petitioners 21, 25 (quoting 491 U. S., at 336). In Brown-Forman, petitioners observe, the Court suggested that whether a state law “ ‘is addressed only to [in-state] sales is irrelevant if the “practical effect” of the law is to control’ ” out-of-state prices. Brief for Petitioners 21 (quoting 476 U. S., at 583). Petitioners point to similar language in Baldwin as well. Brief for Petitioners 37 (quoting 294 U. S., at 523–524).
In our view, however, petitioners read too much into too little. “[T]he language of an opinion is not always to be parsed as though we were dealing with language of a statute.” Reiter v. Sonotone Corp., 442 U. S. 330, 341 (1979). Instead, we emphasize, our opinions dispose of discrete cases and controversies and they must be read with a careful eye to context. See Cohens v. Virginia, 6 Wheat. 264, 399–400 (1821) (Marshall, C. J.). And when it comes to Baldwin, Brown-Forman, and Healy, the language petitioners highlight appeared in a particular context and did particular work. Throughout, the Court explained that the challenged statutes had a specific impermissible “extraterritorial effect”—they deliberately “prevent[ed out-of-state
