Q2.On
what authority would federal courts apply general law rather than the
law of the situs of the tort?(Choose the
best answer)
This depends upon where the tort took place --
that is, the state in which the accident occurred.
Swift v. Tyson allowed federal
courts to apply general law, rather than law of the situs as state
courts would.This
results because federal courts are organized under Article 3 of the
United States constitution, and are not courts of any one individual
state.
In Swift v. Tyson the Supreme Court
interpreted the Rules of Decision Act, which stated that "The laws
of the several states . . . shall be regarded as the rules of decision
at trials at common law," to mean that federal courts had to follow
state statutes but not state common law as reflected in state court
decisions.
Question 2
