Court Opinion

ID: 9482985
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-05 09:07:11.165239+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:49:20.476074
License: Public Domain

RIPPLE, Circuit Judge,
concurring.
I join the judgment of the court and concur in the essential reasoning of the thoughtful opinion filed by the majority.
The choice of law issue in this case clearly is governed by the rule in Ferens v. John Deere Co., 494 U.S. 516, 110 S.Ct. 1274, 108 L.Ed.2d 443 (1990), and, under that rule, Florida choice of law rules are applicable. Those rules clearly point to North Carolina as the jurisdiction whose substantive law applies. This choice of law issue is, in my view, quite clear-cut and can be made without deciding definitively whether North Carolina negligence law is the same as Illinois strict liability law. In my view, this latter question is a far more difficult one than my brothers acknowledge. The majority also offers a shorthand approach to the difficult and nuanced substance-procedure dichotomy of Erie Railroad Co. v. Tompkins, 304 U.S. 64, 58 S.Ct. 817, 82 L.Ed. 1188 (1938). While the brightline “in the courtroom — out of the courtroom” distinction suggested by my colleagues may be helpful in understanding the case before us, it hardly provides adequately for all the constitutional and policy concerns that animate the Erie doctrine. Here, it is quite clear, in my view, that the North Carolina rule is a matter of substance. On the merits, I agree with the majority that the North Carolina seat belt rule is not intended to preclude evidence that the presence of such a device makes it reasonable not to use laminated glass in a sunroof. The seat belt rule clearly is limited to precluding consideration of non-use in determining whether a plaintiff used due care to minimize the consequences of an accident.