Two recently filed petitions are worth noting: U.S. Bank National Association ND v. Thomas (09-1161), which challenges certain state-law usury claims against banks, and Norfolk Dredging Company v. Misener Marine Construction, Inc. (09-1164), which seeks to clarify the status of certain state statutes affecting maritime law. Â The briefs in opposition have not yet been filed, but the petitions and their questions presented appear below the jump.
Title: U.S. Bank National Association ND v. Thomas
Docket: 09-1161
Issues: (1) Whether state-law usury claims against state-chartered, federally insured banks are completely preempted by a provision of the Depository Institutions Deregulation and Monetary Control Act of 1980 now codified at 12 U.S.C. § 1831d; and (2) whether the definition of the term “interest†under 12 U.S.C. § 85 may be limited to periodic percentage interest rates, excluding many types of fees charged in connection with a loan (or other extension of credit).
Title: Norfolk Dredging Company v. Misener Marine Construction, Inc.
Docket: 09-1164
Issues: (1) Whether the Supreme Court should overrule the doctrine that state statutes that “work material prejudice to the characteristic features of the general maritime law [or] interfere with the proper harmony and uniformity of that law in international and interstate relations” are impliedly preempted; and (2) whether a state statute granting attorneys’ fees to a prevailing party is preempted in light of the Supreme Court’s prior concern for substantive state law “rules upon which maritime actors rely in making decisions about primary conduct.”
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