Court Opinion

ID: 8927963
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2022-11-27 06:53:20.824039+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:09:27.678268
License: Public Domain

E. GRADY JOLLY, Circuit Judge,
specially concurring:
I concur, but with no minor reservation. The result we reach in this ease creates significant problems in the field of maritime law because it defies reason, runs contrary to principles of the general precedent in the field, and creates all sorts of internal inconsistencies in the prosecution of cases dealing with death on the high seas. Most of these problems are noted in Judge Davis’ thorough and honest opinion.
Notwithstanding the powerful reasons exhorting a result opposite the one we have reached, the language of the statute is plain and clear that state remedies for deaths on the high seas are preserved and not federally preempted, and there is legislative history that clearly supports the plain meaning of the plain words of the statute. I therefore concur, but knowing that this result may create a mess in more than a few cases.