Farrell v. United States et al. (336 U.S. 511)
U.S. Supreme Court · decided April 4, 1949 · Supreme Court Database (Spaeth)
- Citation
- 336 U.S. 511 · 69 S. Ct. 707
- Docket
- No. 267
- Argued
- January 14, 1949
- Decided
- April 4, 1949
- Term
- October Term 1948
- Vote
- 5–4
- Majority author
- Justice Jackson (R.H.)
- Issue area
- Economic Activity
- Disposition
- Affirmed
- Outcome
- Petitioning party lost
- Ideological direction
- Conservative
How the Justices voted
- Majority
- Chief Justice Vinson, Justice Burton, Justice R. H. Jackson (wrote), Justice Frankfurter, Justice Reed
- Dissenting
- Justice Douglas (wrote), Justice Black, Justice Rutledge, Justice Murphy
Opinion excerpt
Mr. Justice Jackson delivered the opinion of the Court; Petitioner, a seaman, brought suit in admiralty to recover damages under the Jones Act, 41 Stat. 1007, 46 U. S. C. § 688, and maintenance, cure and wages under maritime law. The issue of negligence was decided against him by both courts below and the claim is abandoned here. Petition for certiorari to review other issues was granted. 335 U. S. 869. I. Maintenance and Cure. The facts which occasion maintenance and cure for this seaman are not in dispute. The claimant, 22 years of age and in good health, was a member of the Merchant Marine. He was in the service of the S. S. James E. Haviland, a merchant vessel owned and operated by the United States as a cargo and troop ship. On February 5, 1944, she was docked at Palermo, Sicily, and Farrell was granted shore leave which required his return to the ship by 6 p. m. of the same day. He overstayed his leave and about eight o’clock began, in rain and darkness, to make his way to the ship. He became lost and was misdirected to the wrong gate, by which he entered the shore-front area about a mile from where the ship lay moored. The area generally was blacked out but petitioner’s companion, forty or fifty feet away, saw him fall over a guard chain into a drydock which was lighted sufficiently for night work then in progress. Farrell was grievously injured. He was treated without…
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