In the 1969 case of Moragne v. States Marine Lines, Inc., et al., the U.S Supreme Court unanimously ruled that a wrongful death action could be brought under general maritime law for deaths occurring in state territorial waters. Prior to this ruling, no such federal common law existed and claims were limited by individual state laws which often led to inconsistent results. The case arose when Edward Moragne died while working as a longshoreman in Florida's territorial waters and his widow sought damages from his employer, States Marine Lines, alleging unseaworthiness of the vessel he was working on at the time of his death. The court’s decision overruled its previous stance set forth in "The Harrisburg" (1886), where it had held there was no right to recovery for wrongful death under general maritime law.

In the dissenting opinion for Moragne v. States Marine Lines, Inc., Justice Harlan disagreed with the majority's decision to create a new federal common law right of action for wrongful death in territorial waters. He argued that this was an overreach by the judiciary and that it should be left up to Congress to decide whether or not such a right should exist. He also expressed concern about potential confusion and inconsistency resulting from having two different systems (state laws and now federal common law) governing wrongful death claims arising out of maritime incidents. Furthermore, he pointed out that there had been no showing of any significant inadequacy or unfairness in state wrongful-death statutes which would justify judicial intervention on these grounds.