Cite as: 513 U. S. 219 (1995)
Opinion of Stevens, J.
background rule against which all individuals order their affairs. Surely Congress did not intend to give airlines free rein to commit negligent acts subject only to the supervision of the Department of Transportation, any more than it meant to allow airlines to breach contracts with impunity. See ante, at 230-233. And, if judge-made duties are not preempted, it would make little sense to find pre-emption of identical rules codified by the state legislature. The duty imposed by the Consumer Fraud Act is to refrain from committing fraud in commercial dealings—it is "the duty not to deceive." Cipollone, 505 U. S., at 529. This is neither a novel nor a controversial proscription. It falls no more heavily upon airlines than upon any other business. It is no more or less a state-imposed "public policy" than a negligence rule. In sum, I see no difference between the duty to refrain from deception and the duty of reasonable care, and I see no meaningful difference between the enforcement of either duty and the enforcement of a private agreement.
The majority's extension of Morales is particularly untenable in light of the interpretive presumption against preemption. As in Cipollone, I believe there is insufficient evidence of congressional intent to supersede laws of general applicability to justify a finding that the ADA pre-empts either the contract or the fraud claim. Cipollone, 505 U. S., at 525-530; see also Morales, 504 U. S., at 419-421 (Stevens, J., dissenting) (discussing presumption against pre-emption as an incident of federalism). Indeed, the presumption against pre-emption is especially appropriate to the ADA because Congress retained the "saving clause" preserving state "remedies now existing at common law or by statute." 49 U. S. C. App. § 1506.
Accordingly, while I join the Court's disposition of the
breach-of-contract claims,3 I would affirm the entire judgment of the Supreme Court of Illinois.
3 Accordingly, I join Part I, except for the last paragraph, and Part II-B of the Court's opinion.
237
Page: Index Previous 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 NextLast modified: October 4, 2007