In the Graves v. Saline County case of 1895, the U.S Supreme Court ruled in favor of Saline County, affirming that a county could not be held liable for damages caused by a mob. The plaintiff, Graves, was an African-American man who owned property in Saline County and claimed his property had been damaged during racial violence instigated by white residents. He argued that since local law enforcement did nothing to prevent or stop this damage from occurring despite having knowledge about it beforehand, the county should compensate him for his losses. However, the court disagreed with this argument stating that under common law principles and precedents set by previous cases such as South v Maryland (1856), counties were immune from liability arising out of failure to keep peace or protect citizens against harm inflicted by mobs.

In the dissenting opinion for Graves v. Saline County, Justice Brewer argued that the majority's decision was inconsistent with previous rulings of the court and violated principles of federalism. He contended that under a proper interpretation of the Constitution, states should have broad authority to regulate their own internal affairs without interference from federal courts. In this case, he believed that Kansas had acted within its rights in levying taxes on railroad companies operating within its borders and disagreed with the majority's view that these taxes were unconstitutional because they interfered with interstate commerce. He also expressed concern about potential negative consequences if federal courts continued to encroach upon state sovereignty by invalidating state laws based on an overly expansive reading of Congress' power over interstate commerce.