In the 1903 case of Cronin v. City of Denver, the U.S Supreme Court ruled in favor of plaintiff John F. Cronin, who had sued the city for damages after his property was flooded due to a poorly constructed sewer system. The court held that while municipalities are not liable for damages resulting from legislative functions such as planning and zoning decisions, they can be held responsible when performing corporate or proprietary functions like constructing and maintaining infrastructure systems. In this case, it was determined that Denver's construction and maintenance of its sewer system were negligent acts which directly caused harm to Cronin's property; therefore, he was entitled to compensation for his losses.

In the dissenting opinion for Cronin v. City of Denver, it was argued that the majority's decision to uphold a city ordinance requiring property owners to pay for sidewalk repairs in front of their properties violated due process rights under the Fourteenth Amendment. The dissent contended that this type of special assessment constituted an unlawful taking without just compensation because it placed an undue burden on individual property owners rather than distributing costs among all taxpayers. Furthermore, they disagreed with the majority's view that sidewalks were a local benefit primarily serving adjacent landowners; instead, they saw them as public infrastructure benefiting all citizens and therefore should be funded by general taxation. They also expressed concerns about potential abuses and arbitrary enforcement by municipal authorities given broad powers under such ordinances.