Sprietsma v. Mercury Marine, 537 U.S. 51, 4 (2002)

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54

SPRIETSMA v. MERCURY MARINE

Opinion of the Court

Justice Stevens delivered the opinion of the Court.

The question presented is whether a state common-law tort action seeking damages from the manufacturer of an outboard motor is pre-empted either by the enactment of the Federal Boat Safety Act of 1971, 46 U. S. C. §§ 4301-4311 (FBSA, 1971 Act, or Act), or by the decision of the Coast Guard in 1990 not to promulgate a regulation requiring propeller guards on motorboats.

I

On July 10, 1995, petitioner's wife, Jeanne Sprietsma, died as a result of a boating accident on an inland lake that spans the Kentucky-Tennessee border. She was riding in an 18-foot ski boat equipped with a 115-horsepower outboard motor manufactured by respondent, Mercury Marine, which is a division of the Brunswick Corporation (Brunswick). Apparently when the boat turned, she fell overboard and was struck by the propeller, suffering fatal injuries.

Attorneys General for their respective States as follows: Mark Pryor of Arkansas, Bill Lockyer of California, Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut, Robert A. Butterworth of Florida, Earl I. Anzai of Hawaii, Steve Carter of Indiana, J. Joseph Curran, Jr., of Maryland, Mike McGrath of Montana, Frankie Sue Del Papa of Nevada, Philip T. McLaughlin of New Hampshire, Patricia Madrid of New Mexico, Roy Cooper of North Carolina, Hardy Myers of Oregon, Mark L. Shurtleff of Utah, Christine O. Gregoire of Washington, and Darrell V. McGraw, Jr., of West Virginia; and for the Association of Trial Lawyers of America by Ross Diamond III and Jeffrey Robert White.

Briefs of amici curiae urging affirmance were filed for the Chamber of Commerce of the United States of America by John G. Roberts, Jr., Catherine E. Stetson, and Robin S. Conrad; for the Maritime Law Association of the United States by Joshua S. Force, Raymond P. Hayden, William R. Dorsey III, and James Patrick Cooney; for the National Association of Manufacturers et al. by Kenneth W. Starr, Robert R. Gasaway, Richard A. Cordray, Ashley C. Parrish, Jan S. Amundson, and Quentin Riegel; and for the Product Liability Advisory Council, Inc., by Alan Untereiner.

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