Court Opinion

ID: 9819069
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-09-01 06:18:14.571984+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:38:29.092300
License: Public Domain

CHIEF JUSTICE HARRISON, dissenting: Under the supremacy clause of the United States Constitution (U.S. Const., art. VI, cl. 2), state law must yield to federal law, but neither federal supremacy nor any other principle of federal law requires that a state court’s interpretation of federal law give way to a lower federal court’s interpretation. A state court’s interpretation of federal law is no less authoritative than that of the federal court of appeals in whose circuit the trial court is located. The only federal court whose interpretation of federal law is binding on the courts of Illinois is the United States Supreme Court. If the courts of this state follow a lower federal court’s interpretation of federal law, they do so only because they choose to, not because they must. Lockhart v. Fretwell, 506 U.S. 364, 376, 122 L. Ed. 2d 180, 193, 113 S. Ct. 838, 846 (1993) (Thomas, J., concurring). Notwithstanding the view expressed by former Justice Bilandic in his opinion in Busch v. Graphic Color Corp., 169 Ill. 2d 325, 335 (1996), the most recent decisions of our court have adhered to this view. In the absence of controlling United States Supreme Court precedent, we may “elect” to follow Seventh Circuit precedent construing a federal statute. Wilson v. Norfolk & Western Ry. Co., 187 Ill. 2d 369, 383-84 (1999). We are not required to do so, however, and are free to depart from that precedent whenever we believe it is wrongly decided. Weiland v. Telectronics Pacing Systems, Inc., 188 Ill. 2d 415, 423 (1999). See also People v. Kokoraleis, 132 Ill. 2d 235, 293-94 (1989) (“decisions of lower Federal courts are not conclusive on State courts, except insofar as the decision of the lower Federal court may become the law of the case”). Contrary to my colleagues’ view, this is not a case where our authority to make an independent interpretation of federal law should yield to considerations of uniformity. If our view of federal law differs from that of the lower federal courts and the conflict proves problematic, the United States Supreme Court may grant review to resolve the conflict. We should not perpetuate an erroneous interpretation of the law merely because it has been endorsed by some lower federal court judges. Uniformity is no virtue if it means being uniformly wrong. I also disagree with the result the majority reaches on the merits. My colleagues go to enormous lengths to uphold a finding of preemption when they should be doing exactly the opposite. Preemption is disfavored. As our court has previously held, a presumption exists in every preemption case that Congress did not intend to supplant state law. Scholtens v. Schneider, 173 Ill. 2d 375, 379 (1996). In ascertaining congressional intent, our inquiry necessarily begins with an analysis of the language of the statute. Scholtens, 173 Ill. 2d at 380. The language employed by Congress here could not be more clear. Section 4311(g) of the FBSA expressly provides: “[C]ompliance with this chapter or standards, regulations, or orders prescribed under this chapter does not relieve a person from liability at common law or under State law.” 46 U.S.C. § 4311(g) (1994). If we are to give this provision its plain and ordinary meaning, as we must, Mercury Marine’s compliance with the standard adopted by the Coast Guard, which was not to require propeller guards, clearly does not bar the common law tort claims asserted against it by Sprietsma in this case. Indeed, it is difficult to see how Congress’ intention to preserve such tort claims could have been expressed any more explicitly. The Supreme Court of Texas (Moore v. Brunswick Bowling & Billiards Corp., 889 S.W.2d 246 (Tex. 1994)) and the Missouri Court of Appeals (Ard v. Jensen, 996 S.W.2d 594 (Mo. App. 1999)) have reached the same conclusion on similar facts: the FBSA does not preempt common law tort claims based on failure to install propeller guards. Although our appellate court took a contrary position in Farner v. Brunswick Corp., 239 Ill. App. 3d 885 (1992), that case is premised on a narrow construction of section 4311, which cannot be justified given the broad language Congress employed when it drafted the statute. See Ard, 996 S.W.2d at 600. Farner should be overruled. While allowing common law tort claims to go forward may seem to create a tension with the Coast Guard’s policy against propeller guards, that is a circumstance we must assume Congress considered when it adopted section 4311(g). If section 4311(g) ultimately proves unworkable when applied as written, that is a matter for Congress and not this court to remedy. For the foregoing reasons, the judgment of the appellate court affirming the dismissal of plaintiffs complaint should be reversed, and the cause should be remanded to the circuit court for further proceedings. I therefore dissent.