Tamarin Lindenberg v. Jackson Nat'l Life Ins. Co.

LARSEN, Circuit Judge, concurring in part and dissenting in part.1

State courts are the authority on questions of state law. Federal courts must sometimes decide state law questions, but we are the back-ups. We are to follow, not lead.

This case presents two uncertain and important questions of state law: one concerning the proper construction of a Tennessee statute; the other concerning the conformity of a different Tennessee statute with the Tennessee Constitution. The Tennessee Supreme Court has signaled its willingness to decide both of these state law questions, and we have a…