In the 1926 case of Road Improvement District No. 1 of Franklin County, Arkansas, et al. v. Missouri Pacific Railroad Company, the U.S Supreme Court ruled in favor of the railroad company. The dispute arose when a road improvement district in Franklin County imposed an assessment on lands owned by Missouri Pacific Railroad for road improvements that did not directly benefit these properties. The railroad company argued this was unconstitutional as it violated their right to due process under the Fourteenth Amendment and amounted to taking property without just compensation under Fifth Amendment rights.The court agreed with this argument stating that while local governments have broad powers to levy taxes or assessments for public improvements, they must still respect constitutional protections regarding private property rights.

In the dissenting opinion for Road Improvement District No. 1 of Franklin County, Arkansas v. Missouri Pacific Railroad Company, Justice Stone argued that the majority's decision to uphold a tax imposed on railroad property by an Arkansas county was inconsistent with previous rulings and violated due process rights under the Fourteenth Amendment. He contended that in past cases where similar taxes were levied against railroads, they were deemed unconstitutional because they disproportionately affected interstate commerce entities compared to local businesses or properties. Furthermore, he asserted that this case should be no different as it also involved discriminatory taxation practices which unfairly burdened interstate commerce operations such as railroads while exempting locally owned land from such obligations. In essence, Justice Stone believed that this ruling contradicted established precedents and infringed upon constitutional protections afforded by the Fourteenth Amendment.