In the case of Shawnee Sewerage and Drainage Company v. Stearns, as Mayor of the City of Shawnee in 1910, the Supreme Court was tasked with determining whether a city ordinance that required property owners to connect their properties to a public sewer system violated any constitutional rights. The plaintiff argued that this requirement constituted an unlawful taking without just compensation under the Fifth Amendment's Takings Clause. However, after careful consideration, the court ruled against them stating that such regulations were within municipal powers for promoting public health and safety. Therefore, it did not constitute an unconstitutional taking without due process or just compensation because it served a legitimate public purpose - sanitation improvement in this instance.

In the dissenting opinion for Shawnee Sewerage and Drainage Company v. Stearns, it was argued that the majority's decision to uphold a city ordinance requiring property owners to connect their premises with public sewers violated private property rights. The dissenting justices contended that while municipalities have broad powers to enact ordinances in order to protect public health and welfare, these powers should not be used arbitrarily or oppressively against individual citizens. They believed that forcing a property owner who already had an adequate private sewer system in place to connect with the public sewer at his own expense constituted such oppressive use of municipal power. Furthermore, they disagreed with the majority's view that this requirement served a legitimate sanitary purpose since there was no evidence presented showing any health risks posed by existing private systems.