Throwing Admiralty Jurisdiction a Life Vest: Preserving Jurisdiction for Maritime Torts that Do Not Involve Vessels

Abstract

Admiralty jurisdiction was created to protect maritime commerce and other traditional maritime activities. To adequately protect maritime commerce and other traditional maritime activities, torts occurring on navigable waters that do not involve a vessel must be able to establish admiralty jurisdiction. The current test for admiralty jurisdiction, which is a two-part test that contains both a locality and a con-nection test, does not require a vessel to be involved. Despite the Supreme Court’s test, many lower courts have arbitrarily imposed a condition that the suit must involve a vessel to establish admiralty jurisdiction for in personam tort claims. This vessel-requirement creates a test for admiralty jurisdiction that inadequately protects maritime commerce because some forms of maritime commerce, such as professional SCUBA diving, do not involve vessels. Furthermore, this vessel requirement excludes many operations outside of maritime commerce, like U.S. Coast Guard rescues, which may disrupt maritime commerce. Thus, to adequately protect maritime commerce, Congress or the Supreme Court must act to stop lower courts from requiring that a tort involve a vessel to establish admiralty jurisdiction for in personam tort suits.