In the case of Thomas, Sheriff and Collector, et al. v. Kansas City Southern Railway Company et al., 1922, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of the railway company. The dispute arose from a Louisiana law that allowed parishes to tax railroad companies for property they owned within parish boundaries. However, this law was challenged by several railroads who argued it violated their Fourteenth Amendment rights because it unfairly targeted them with higher taxes compared to other businesses or properties in those areas. They also claimed that these taxes were not equally distributed among all taxpayers as required by state constitution provisions on uniform taxation laws. The court agreed with the railways' arguments and found that such selective taxing did indeed violate their constitutional rights under equal protection clauses since they were being singled out for heavier taxation without any justifiable reason or benefit received in return for these additional costs imposed upon them by local authorities trying to raise revenue through discriminatory practices against specific industries like theirs operating within their jurisdictions.

In the dissenting opinion for Thomas, Sheriff and Collector, et al. v. Kansas City Southern Railway Company et al., Justice McReynolds argued that the majority's decision was inconsistent with previous rulings of the court regarding taxation issues. He contended that a state has every right to tax property within its borders and this includes intangible assets such as stocks and bonds held by corporations operating in multiple states. The justice believed it was unfair to exempt these types of properties from taxation simply because they were part of an interstate business operation. Furthermore, he disagreed with the majority's assertion that taxing these assets would interfere with interstate commerce or violate due process rights under Fourteenth Amendment protections.