In the United States Mortgage Company v. Sperry case of 1890, the Supreme Court ruled on a dispute involving land ownership and mortgage rights. The plaintiff, U.S. Mortgage Co., had purchased lands at a tax sale in Kansas which were previously mortgaged by Sperry to secure bonds issued by an Illinois railroad company. When Sperry failed to pay taxes on these lands, they were sold for delinquent taxes without notifying the mortgagee (U.S. Mortgage Co.). The court held that such sales violated due process under the Fourteenth Amendment because no notice was given to parties with interests in property before it is seized and sold for unpaid taxes; thus rendering them void as against such parties not notified. The ruling emphasized that while states have broad power over taxation procedures within their jurisdiction, this does not extend to depriving individuals or corporations of property without due process of law - including failure to provide adequate notification prior to seizure or sale of properties for unpaid taxes.

In the dissenting opinion for United States Mortgage Company v. Sperry, the justice argued that the majority's decision to allow a state law to supersede federal legislation was incorrect. The justice believed that this ruling undermined Congress' authority and violated principles of federalism by allowing states to interfere with federally chartered corporations. Furthermore, they contended that it set a dangerous precedent where individual states could potentially undermine national economic policy through their own laws. They also disagreed with the majority's interpretation of "due process," arguing instead that due process should protect against arbitrary state action rather than simply ensuring procedural fairness in legal proceedings as interpreted by the majority.