Susan Morton William Morton v. Joaquin Martins De Oliveira, and Carnival Cruise Lines, Inc.

BRUNETTI, Circuit Judge:

This admiralty case arises from an alleged rape on board a cruise liner. We must decide whether the Supreme Court has implicitly overruled this circuit’s law that a ship owner is absolutely liable for a crew member’s assault on a passenger.

I

Plaintiffs Susan and William Morton paid to take a cruise in 1989 on the M/V Carni-vale, a ship owned and operated by Carnival Cruise Lines, Inc. Crew member Joaquin De Oliveira served as their regular dining room waiter.

One evening, while William Morton was at the ship’s casino, Susan Morton was alone in their cabin when, according…