In the case of James N. Curran v. The State of Arkansas, The Bank of the State of Arkansas, John M. Ross and David W. Carrol, Curran argued that he was entitled to a refund from the state for money paid in taxes on stock he owned in an insolvent bank which had been taken over by the state's financial receiver (Ross). He claimed that since his shares were worthless due to their being held by a defunct institution, they should not be taxed as if they still had value; however, this argument was rejected by both lower courts and ultimately denied review at Supreme Court level due to lack of jurisdiction under existing laws at that time. Ultimately it was decided that no refund would be issued for taxes already paid on these stocks despite them having become valueless after being taken over by Ross as financial receiver for the state-owned bank.

In the dissenting opinion of James N. Curran v. The State of Arkansas, The Bank of the State of Arkansas, John M. Ross and David W. Carrol, Justice McLean argued that the Court should have granted a writ to review an earlier decision by a state court which had denied Mr. Curran's claim for damages against his creditors in relation to their alleged breach of contract with him regarding certain notes he held from them as security for payment on debts owed to him by those same creditors. He argued that this was necessary because there were questions raised about whether or not Mr. Curran had been deprived due process under the law when it came to his claims against these parties and therefore needed further consideration from higher courts in order for justice to be served properly in this case since it involved matters concerning federal rights protected by US Constitution and laws passed pursuant thereto such as contracts between citizens across different states lines being enforced without prejudice or favoritism towards either party involved regardless if they are individuals or corporations/banks etc..