The fourteen-year jackpot justice abomination that is the Anna Nicole Smith case continues, but may hopefully reach a just conclusion soon.
Although media attention understandably centers upon the tawdry celebrity element of this dispute, it has actually spawned an alarming Supreme Court decision that should trouble all Americans.
As readers of CFIF’s website may recall, the United States Supreme Court ruled in the 2006 Marshall v. Marshall matter that a duplicative federal bankruptcy court action was somehow not preempted by a preexisting Texas state court lawsuit. Originally a state probate court matter, overactive lawyers thought they could improve their odds by filing a redundant action in a California federal bankruptcy court. From there, the case was appealed to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, and then to the United States Supreme Court, which remanded back to the Ninth Circuit following its decision.
The reason for alarm is that in cases such as this one, which center upon state law questions, federal courts had traditionally deferred to state courts. By eroding that longstanding deference, the Supreme Court not only exacerbated federal intrusion into traditionally state matters, but also increased trial lawyers’ ability to forum-shop and file multiple lawsuits in alternate jurisdictions in pursuit of a result to their liking.
Moreover, the Supreme Court’s disturbing ruling undermined estate planning and philanthropic giving across the nation by granting federal judges authority over state inheritance matters with which they’re less familiar.
In the latest installment of this long, strange road trip through the American legal system, the Ninth Circuit held oral arguments last month on remand. Hopefully, the Court will reach its previous substantive conclusion, thereby providing the Marshall family with long-overdue justice, and making this the last stop in a regrettable legal saga.
In addition to the Marshall family, the health of the U.S. legal system and sanity of Americans is also at stake.
Related Stories:
Anna Nicole Smith Lives? A Vignette of the Continuing Breakdown of America’s Judicial System
Why the Anna Nicole Smith Saga Actually Matters
Anna Nicole's Legal Legacy Lives Long After her Death
July 6, 2009