Governments loses Morning Dew appeal - In Other News

Boat/US Magazine, July, 2002

A long-standing U.S. Coast Guard policy which holds that the service is authorized - but not obligated - to perform search and rescue may come under review following a decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals to uphold a $19 million negligence verdict in the case of the Morning Dew.

In a 2-1 decision on April 25, a federal appeals court rejected the government's claim that it was not responsible for the loss of life and reaffirmed a lower court's ruling that Coast Guard actions in this case were wanton and reckless and contributed to their deaths.

The 34-foot sailboat, Morning Dew, hit the jetty at the entrance to Charleston Harbor in the early hours of Dec. 29, 1997 and all hands, including three youngsters as well as the skipper, perished.

While a healthy debate has sprung up on both sides of the issue, this second court decision to go against the government is making it evermore clear that the Coast Guard is going to be held to a higher standard of care in future search and rescue cases.

Currently, the Coast Guard maintains that it has no obligation under the law to conduct a search and rescue operation and that requiring it to do so would significantly expand its liability exposure and wreak havoc on its operations.

But Justice Catherine C. Blake writing for the court's majority said, "Because we agree that the Coast Guard undertook a search and rescue, and that it was wanton and reckless in terminating that effort, and thereby worsened the positions of the Coruett children and Bobby Lee Hurd, we affirm the rulings of the trial court."

In that ruling, U.S. District Court Judge David Norton minced no words saying, "This tragedy was avoidable... It was not an angry sea or cruel weather that impeded the Coast Guard's ability to rescue the Morning Dew's passengers. It was human error, the impetuous termination of a search and rescue mission.