Court Opinion

ID: 9726010
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-26 12:27:27.371006+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:25:22.823436
License: Public Domain

SIMS, J.
I concur with issuance of the writ and with nearly all of the majority opinion. However, I think “port” means “seaport” and does not mean some “other place within a covered domain from which . . . travel over international waters might occur.” (Majority opn., p. 860, ante.)
*862“Words used in an insurance policy are to be interpreted according to the plain meaning which a layman would ordinarily attach to them.” (Reserve Insurance Co. v. Pisciotta (1982) 30 Cal.3d 800, 807 [180 Cal.Rptr. 628, 640 P.2d 764].) A “port” is “a place where ships may ride secure from storms . . . .” (Webster’s Third New Internal. Dict. (1981) p. 1767.) As the majority correctly show, “port of entry” is a term given special significance in the law of tax and tariffs. “Port” is not a common abbreviation of “port of entry.” A layman would not think “port” means “port of entry,” nor, in my view; would a layman think a “port” is some place from which travel over international waters might occur, unless there is a harbor for ships there.
Petitions for a rehearing were denied March 18, 1986, and the petitions of real parties in interest for review by the Supreme Court were denied June 18, 1986.