Laws change all the time; every year, lawmakers propose dozens, if not hundreds, of bills to create new federal and state laws and amend existing ones. Meanwhile, some laws have been on the books since before anyone alive today was born. For example, the federal False Claims Act, which sets a framework for suing businesses that engage in deceptive business practices when their client is a federal government agency, went into effect in 1863, during the Civil War.
Likewise, dram shop liability laws, which stipulate that bars are legally responsible for injuries caused by drunk people who got drunk at the bar, go back to a time when bars were called dram shops; a dram is a unit of liquid measurement, so in this case, it refers to quantities of an alcoholic beverage.
Likewise, the Merchant Marine Act of 1920, better known as the Jones Act after its author, Sen. Wesley Jones, went into effect before anyone except today’s centenarians was born. Now, in response to the current conflict in the Middle East, the federal government is considering suspending some of its provisions, albeit not the ones that relate to personal injury law. If you were injured while working on a ship, contact a Houma maritime injury lawyer.
The Purpose of the Merchant Marine Act Is to Protect the United States Shipping Industry and Its Employees
Sen. Jones proposed the Jones Act in an effort to help the United States shipping industry recover after the First World War, when many military and commercial ships were damaged or destroyed. It provides that, when a ship is traveling between two U.S. ports, the ship must be a United States ship, flying an American flag, owned by a company based in the United States, and staffed by a crew hired in the United States. This is the provision that the government is considering temporarily suspending. The waiver would enable foreign ships, as well as American ones, to travel between U.S. ports. This would enable gods to reach their U.S. destinations faster, relieving shortages of petroleum and other supplies and preventing sharp increases in prices of these supplies. The government has previously waived this provision of the Jones Act during other emergencies.
What Does the Jones Act Have to Do With Personal Injury Cases?
The provisions of the Jones Act that deal with personal injury law are unlikely to change in the foreseeable future. Pursuant to the Jones Act, sailors who get injured on a U.S. ship at sea have the right to sue their employers for compensation for their injury-related financial losses. This easily solves the question of jurisdiction. It does not matter whether the ship was in U.S. waters, international waters, or the waters of another country. If it is an American ship, you still have the right to file a personal injury lawsuit.
Contact the Law Office of Patrick H. Yancey About Personal Injury Cases
A personal injury lawyer can help you if you were injured in a preventable accident while working on a ship. Contact the Law Office of Patrick H. Yancey in Houma, Louisiana, to set up a consultation about your case.
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