In the case of Burr et al., Partners, Doing Business Under The Firm Name Of Parkinson & Burr v. City of Columbus, Ohio et al., 1918, the Supreme Court dealt with a dispute over taxation on imported goods stored in bonded warehouses. The plaintiffs were importers who had paid taxes to the city of Columbus for storing their goods in these warehouses and sought to recover those payments arguing that they were unconstitutional under federal law which prohibited local taxation on imports. However, the court ruled against them stating that once an importer has taken possession of his merchandise from customs custody and placed it into general storage (even if still within a bonded warehouse), it loses its character as an import and becomes subject to local taxation.

The dissenting opinion in the case of Burr et al., Partners, Doing Business Under The Firm Name Of Parkinson & Burr, v. City Of Columbus, Ohio, et al., argued that the city's ordinance was not a legitimate exercise of police power and violated due process rights under the Fourteenth Amendment. The justice disagreed with the majority's view that public safety justified limiting property rights without compensation. He contended that if a structure is so dangerous as to require its removal for public safety reasons then it should be considered a nuisance and dealt with accordingly - which would involve compensating owners for their loss. However, he believed this wasn't applicable in this case since there was no evidence presented suggesting these billboards were nuisances or posed any danger to public safety; hence they shouldn’t have been removed without just compensation.