Palmore v. First Unum

The United States District Court for the Northern District of Alabama has certified the following question to this Court:

"Is the Alabama tort of bad faith, as codified in [Ala. Code 1975,] § 27-12-24, and as previously existed before its codification, a law which (a) is limited solely to insurers; and (b) constitutes a regulation of the insurance industry under Alabama law?"

We initially accepted the certified question. However, guided by an acknowledgment of the proper boundaries between state and federal courts, our analysis compels us now to decline to answer this question.

At first glance,…