Calbeck v. Travelers Insurance Co.

Mr. Justice Stewart, whom Mr. Justice Harlan joins,

dissenting.

In the Longshoremen’s and Harbor Workers’ Compensation Act, 33 U. S. C. §§ 901-950, Congress carefully provided for the recovery of benefits only “if recovery for the disability or death through workmen’s compensation proceedings may not validly be provided by State law.” 33 U. S. C. § 903 (a). Now, thirty-five years later, the Court concludes that Congress did not really mean what it said. I cannot join in this exercise in judicial legerdemain. I think the statute still means what it says, and what it has always been thought to…