Finding Federalism in the Admiralty: "The Devil's Own Mess" Revisited

Abstract

The federalism aspect of the United States Supreme Court's admiralty jurisprudence has long been adrift.' No feature of admiralty law illustrates the Court's difficulties in this regard better than maritime wrongful death remedies. From the beginning of the Court's involvement with maritime wrongful death remedies in The Harrisburg to its most recent decision on the subject in Offshore Logistics v. Tallentire, the Court's jurisprudence in this area has been characterized by inconsistency.