SCOTUS adds to Maritime Law

I am not sure how Bright Enterprises, the New Jersey-based plaintiff in the recent US Supreme Court Case (Loper Bright Enterprises et al. vs Raimondo), arranges their shipboard workforces, but many American commercial fishermen are working shareholders whose workplace conditions are outside of the purview of labor laws. The New York Times recently painted a picture of the fishing industry, consisting of limited rest, frequent injuries, and abuse of stimulants (1). With this in mind, it was less surprising that a maritime company would be on the vanguard of small and mid-size businesses challenging the regulatory state. Overturned in this case was the Chevron Deference, established in the 1980s and named for a major corporation, seemed to put a cap on the excesses of corporate attorneys in the “greed is good” era- although deregulation of telecom and finance would continue through the next decade. Bright Enterprises is a sympathetic plaintiff, and their amici curiae (allies) even more so. At question was a $700 per day regulatory cost for ride-along marine fishery inspectors, which in 2016 sunk David Goethel’s small fishing business in New England cod and clams (2)(3). Another recent gem from the US Supreme Court came in SEC vs Jarkesy, which interested me since the liberal justices were against expanding the right to jury trials to defendants in civil cases currently decided by an Administrative Law Judge (ALJ). With the caveat that the decision does not address license suspension and revocation actions, the Supreme Court may have strengthened the position of mariners and aviators facing certain legal actions by the US Coast Guard or Federal Aviation Administration. Yet, in many cases, a mariner or aviator under charges would prefer to have their case reviewed by an ALJ than a randomly-selected jury. The ALJ would presumably be more informed about technical decisions and risk trade-offs within their sector of the transportation industry, whereas a jury might come to a premature conclusion when casualties occur to the environment or people at sea. (1) https://www.nytimes.com/2024/06/06/magazine/fentanyl-death-fishing.html (2) https://apnews.com/article/fc068b291ae54450be38530c512a09f6 (3) https://causeofaction.org/supreme-court-denies-petition-review-job-killing-fishery-rule/