Opinion ID: 1770805
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Power of Federal Courts to Hear Admiralty Cases

Text: Lastly, the federal constitution's grant of power to federal courts to hear all Cases of admiralty and maritime Jurisdiction, U.S. Const., art. III, § 2, cl. 1, also does not preclude a state's exercise of concurrent jurisdiction with the federal government within the state's territorial waters. See Askew v. American Waterways Operators, Inc., 411 U.S. 325, 341, 93 S.Ct. 1590, 36 L.Ed.2d 280 (1973); see also Hoopengarner v. United States, 270 F.2d 465, 471 (6th Cir.1959) (finding that the federal government may exercise concurrent jurisdiction with states over crimes committed within the states' territorial waters). It is black letter law ... that the mere grant of jurisdiction to a federal court does not operate to oust a state court from concurrent jurisdiction over the cause of action. Gulf Offshore Co. v. Mobil Oil Corp., 453 U.S. 473, 479, 101 S.Ct. 2870, 69 L.Ed.2d 784 (1981). Certainly, as Stepansky concedes, the federal government would be able to exercise jurisdiction over this criminal matter pursuant to 18 U.S.C. § 7(8), which extends federal maritime jurisdiction to offenses committed by or against United States nationals on board foreign vessels scheduled to depart from or arrive in the United States. See Roberts, 1 F.Supp.2d at 607-08; Pizdrint, 983 F.Supp. at 1112-13; see also 18 U.S.C.A. § 2111 (1984) (criminalizing robberies committed within the federal maritime jurisdiction); 18 U.S.C. § 2241 (1994) (criminalizing aggravated sexual abuse in the federal maritime jurisdiction). There is no indication, however, that this grant of federal jurisdiction is exclusive. [12] In fact, the statute conferring jurisdiction on the federal courts over all federal crimes, such as robberies and assaults within the federal maritime jurisdiction, specifically provides that: Nothing in this title shall be held to take away or impair the jurisdiction of the courts of the several States under the laws thereof. 18 U.S.C. § 3231 (1994). The courts will infer congressional intent to preempt state legislation if [t]he scheme of federal regulation [is] so pervasive as to make reasonable the inference that Congress left no room for the States to supplement it, the federal legislation touch[es] a field in which the federal interest is so dominant that the federal system will be assumed to preclude enforcement of state laws on the same subject, or the object sought by the federal legislation may reveal the same purpose. Ray, 435 U.S. at 157, 98 S.Ct. 988 (quoting Rice v. Santa Fe Elevator Corp., 331 U.S. 218, 230, 67 S.Ct. 1146, 91 L.Ed. 1447 (1947)). Unlike the comprehensive federal regulations governing certification of oil tankers and standards of oil tanker operation at issue in Ray and Locke, ___ U.S. ___, 120 S.Ct. 1135, 146 L.Ed.2d 69, the statutes at issue in this case do not involve a scheme of comprehensive federal regulations that are so pervasive as to give rise to a reasonable inference that Congress intended to preempt most state legislation. The United States Supreme Court has explained, Even though Congress has acted in the admiralty area, state regulation is permissible, absent a clear conflict with the federal law. Askew, 411 U.S. at 341, 93 S.Ct. 1590; see Ray, 435 U.S. at 157, 98 S.Ct. 988. Thus, the general rule on preemption in admiralty is that states may supplement federal admiralty law as applied to matters of local concern, so long as state law does not actually conflict with federal law or interfere with the uniform working of the maritime legal system. Pacific Merchant Shipping Ass'n v. Aubry, 918 F.2d 1409, 1422 (9th Cir.1990); see also Thomas J. Schoenbaum, Admiralty and Maritime Law § 2-5 (2d ed. 1994 & Supp.1999). In fact, in Locke, the Supreme Court found that the federal Ports and Waterways Safety Act of 1972 and the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 did not displace state laws which, rather than imposing substantive regulation of a vessel's primary conduct, establish liability rules and financial requirements relating to oil spills. ___ U.S. at ___, 120 S.Ct. at 1146. This Court has previously rejected the argument that the federal courts have exclusive jurisdiction over crimes committed on the high seas precluding the State from exercising its criminal jurisdiction. See Keen v. State, 504 So.2d 396, 398-99 (Fla.1987), disapproved on other grounds, Owen v. State, 596 So.2d 985 (Fla.1992). The defendant in Keen committed murder while on the high seas. We found that because the element of premeditation occurred in Florida, jurisdiction was properly exercised under section 910.005(2), Florida Statutes (1977), which grants Florida jurisdiction over crimes committed partly within the state. 504 So.2d at 398-99. Although the State in Keen exercised a different basis for jurisdiction over the defendant, the critical holding of Keen is that the grant of criminal maritime jurisdiction to the federal courts in 18 U.S.C. § 7 is concurrent rather than exclusive in cases where the offense violates the laws of both sovereigns. Keen, 504 So.2d at 399.