The art piece of the seven sailors killed, presented on the USS Fitzgerald for the one year anniversary remembrance ceremony. Courtesy: USS Fitzgerald.
An en banc decision by a federal appellate court, splitting 12 to 5, denied access to U.S. courts to plaintiffs for servicemen killed or injured from a U.S. Navy destroyer collision with a foreign cargo ship.
The lawsuits, one for those killed and another for those injured, were consolidated on appeal. They have been closely watched by maritime interests because of a challenge to the federal courts’ traditional application of general jurisdiction in civil cases concerning U.S. interests where the injury occurred overseas.
