Chardon v. Fumero Soto

*663Justice Rehnquist, with whom Justice White and Justice Powell join,

dissenting.

Title 42 U. S. C. § 1988 embodies a congressional determination that the laws of the several States provide the most suitable procedural and remedial rules for application in actions brought under the federal civil rights laws. In the words of the statute, “in all cases [brought under the federal civil rights laws] where [federal laws] are not adapted to the object, or are deficient in the provisions necessary to furnish suitable remedies and punish offenses against law, the common law, as modified and changed by…