In the 1932 case of Rocco v. Lehigh Valley Railroad Co., the U.S Supreme Court dealt with a dispute over liability for an accident that resulted in death. The decedent, while driving his car across a railroad crossing at night, was struck by one of the defendant's trains and killed instantly. His executrix sued for damages under Pennsylvania law which required railroads to give adequate warning of approaching trains but did not impose absolute liability for accidents at crossings. The trial court ruled in favor of the plaintiff, finding negligence on part of the railroad company due to inadequate warnings given about an approaching train. However, upon appeal by Lehigh Valley Railroad Co., this decision was reversed by higher courts stating that there wasn't enough evidence showing negligence from their side as they had followed all standard procedures including ringing bells and blowing whistles before reaching crossings. The case reached U.S Supreme Court where it upheld these decisions ruling against Rocco’s estate saying that even though tragic, no federal question was involved here justifying its intervention as state laws were correctly applied and interpreted.

In the dissenting opinion for Rocco v. Lehigh Valley Railroad Co., Justice Stone argued that the majority's decision to deny recovery was inconsistent with prior case law and failed to adequately consider relevant state laws. He contended that under New Jersey law, which should apply in this case, a railroad company is liable for damages caused by sparks from its locomotives unless it can prove it took all possible precautions against such an occurrence. The majority had ruled otherwise based on their interpretation of federal statutes governing interstate commerce, but Justice Stone believed they were misinterpreting those statutes and overstepping their authority by effectively nullifying state laws without clear Congressional intent to do so. He also pointed out inconsistencies between this ruling and previous cases where the Court had allowed recovery under similar circumstances.