U.S. Supreme Court Unanimous Decision

The United States Supreme Court voted 9-0 in favor of James Lewis, a Mississippi River deckhand.

The unanimous decision resolved conflicting legal rules along different stretches of the Mississippi River regarding whether injured maritime employees' lawsuits must be heard in federal or state courts.

The ruling could lay the groundwork for expeditions handling of maritime cases in the years ahead. Waterway cases are not covered by state worker's compensation laws, but instead are filed under a federal law called Jones Act.

This is the first Madison County maritime case to make it to the Supreme Court in almost 50 years. And it was argued on November 29, 2000, the same day the Court considered the Florida election case of Bush v. Gore.