Yamaha Motor Corp., U. S. A. v. Calhoun, 516 U.S. 199, 18 (1996)

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216

YAMAHA MOTOR CORP., U. S. A. v. CALHOUN

Opinion of the Court

shall not be affected by this chapter." 46 U. S. C. App. § 767. This statement, by its terms, simply stops DOHSA from displacing state law in territorial waters. See Miles, 498 U. S., at 25; Tallentire, 477 U. S., at 224-225; Moragne, 398 U. S., at 397-398. Taking into account what Congress sought to achieve, we preserve the application of state statutes to deaths within territorial waters.

* * *

For the reasons stated, we hold that the damages available for the jet ski death of Natalie Calhoun are properly governed by state law.14 The judgment of the Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit is accordingly

Affirmed.

14 The Third Circuit left for initial consideration by the District Court the question whether Pennsylvania's wrongful-death remedies or Puerto Rico's apply. 40 F. 3d 622, 644 (1994). The Court of Appeals also left open, as do we, the source—federal or state—of the standards governing liability, as distinguished from the rules on remedies. We thus reserve for another day reconciliation of the maritime personal injury decisions that rejected state substantive liability standards, and the maritime wrongful-death cases in which state law has held sway. Compare Kermarec, 358 U. S., at 628 (personal injury); Pope & Talbot, Inc. v. Hawn, 346 U. S. 406, 409 (1953) (same), with Hess v. United States, 361 U. S. 314, 319 (1960) (wrongful death); The Tungus v. Skovgaard, 358 U. S. 588, 592- 594 (1959) (same).

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