FindLaw : Legal Subjects : Admiralty Law : Supreme Court Cases

• The Amistad , 40 U.S. 518 (1841) ("When the Amistad arrived, she was in possession of the negroes, asserting their freedom; and in no sense could they possibly intend to import themselves here, as slaves, or for sale as slaves.")
• The Silva , 171 U.S. 462 (1898) (Term "seaworthy" in carriage contract means vessel is reasonably fit to carry the cargo which she has undertaken to transport).
• The Osceola , 189 U.S. 158 (1903) (Discussing seamen's remedies for negligence prior to FELA).
• The Jason , 225 U.S. 32 (1912) (Validating clause in bill of lading providing that general average is payable if it arises through carrier negligence exculpated by the Harter Act).
• Southern Pacific Co. v. Jensen , 244 U.S. 205 (1917) (Admiralty clause of the constitution confers power to federal government to determine what courts will hear maritime cases).
• Chelentis v. Luckenbach Steamship Co., Inc. , 247 U.S. 372 (1918) (Admiralty clause of the constitution confers power to federal government to prescribe substantive law).
• Thames Towboat Co. v. The Francis McDonald , 254 U.S. 242 (1920) (Structure becomes a "vessel" when sufficiently contstructed to be capable of performing its intended use).
• In re Smith & Son v. Taylor , 276 U.S. 179 (1928) (No admiralty jurisdiction when deceased struck and killed by sling on pier).
• Minnie v. Port Huron Terminal Co. , 295 U.S. 647 (1935) (Admiralty jurisdiction existed when deceased struck and killed by hoist on ship).
• Seas Shipping Co. v. Sieracki , 328 U.S. 85 (1946) (Extended the warranty of seaworthiness to longshoremen prior to the passage of the Longshoremen's and Harbor Worker's Compensation Act).
• Wilburn Boat Co. v. Fireman's Fund Insurance Co. , 348 U.S. 310 (1955) (In the absence of federal statute, marine insurance contract governed by state law).
• Kernan v. American Dredging Co. , 355 U.S. 426 (1958) (Violation of statute by Jones Act employer constitutes negligence per se).
• Romero v. International Terminal Operating Co. , 358 U.S. 354 (1959) (Article III impliedly contained three grants. (1) It empowered Congress to confer admiralty and maritime jurisdiction on the "Tribunals inferior to the supreme Court" which were authorized by Art. I, 8, cl. 9. (2) It empowered the federal courts in their exercise of the admiralty ... and maritime jurisdiction which had been conferred on them, to draw on the substantive law "inherent in the admiralty and maritime jurisdiction," ... and to continue the development of this law within constitutional limits. (3) It empowered Congress to revise and supplement the maritime law within the limits of the Constitution).
• Kermarec v. Compagnie Generale Transatlantique , 358 U.S. 625 (1959) (Owner of vessel owes duty of reasonable care to all persons who come aboard for purposes not inimical to the interests of owner).
• Vaughan v. Atkinson , 369 U.S. 527 (1962) (Allowing "punitive" damages (in the form of attorneys fees) for breach of obligation to provide prompt, adequate medical treatment).
• Executive Jet Aviation, Inc. v. City of Cleveland , 409 U.S. 249 (1972) (Neither the fact that an aircraft goes down on navigable waters nor that the negligence "occurs" while the aircraft is flying over such waters is sufficient to confer federal admiralty jurisdiction over aviation tort claims).
• Askew v. Amercian Waterways Operators, Inc. , 411 U.S. 325 (1973) (Rejecting claim that Florida pollution statute intruded into admiralty jurisdiction).
• U.S. v. Reliable Transfer Co. , 421 U.S. 397 (1975) (Jettisoning the divided damages rule in collision cases in favor of proportionate fault).
• Griffin v. Oceanic Contractors, Inc. , 458 U.S. 564 (1981) (Title 46 U.S.C. 596, after obligating the master or owner of a vessel making coasting or foreign voyages to pay a seaman's unpaid wages within specified periods after his discharge, provides that a master or owner who fails to make such payment "without sufficient cause shall pay to the seaman a sum equal to two days' pay for each and every day during which payment is delayed beyond the respective periods." The district courts have no discretion to limit the period during which the wage penalty is assessed.).
• Foremost Insurance Co. v. Richardson , 457 U.S. 668 (1982) (Federal admiralty jurisdiction requires "maritime flavor").

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