by an expert administrative agency” and explaining at length that the federal common law rule in question “would be quite inconsistent with this scheme”); Northwest Airlines, 451 U.S. at 97, 101 S.Ct. at 1583-84 (explaining that the enactment of a “comprehensive legislative scheme including an integrated system of procedures for enforcement” indicates that Congress’ omission of a particular remedy was deliberate and declining to “fashion new remedies that might upset carefully considered legislative programs”). More precisely, federal courts are not free to contradict a congressional policy choice that “speaks directly” to a particular question previously answered by federal common law. See Mobil Oil Corp. v. Higginbotham, 436 U.S. 618, 625, 98 S.Ct. 2010, 2015, 56 L.Ed.2d 581 (1978) (<HOLDING>). Thus, “the question whether a previously
holding that although congress has never enacted a comprehensive maritime code federal courts may not award loss of society damages under general maritime law because the death on the high seas act expressly prohibits recovery of such damages holding that wrongful death actions asserted under admiralty jurisdiction lie under general maritime law for death caused by violation of maritime duties and are not limited to standards of liability created by state law holding punitive damages unavailable for survival claims under general maritime law holding that general maritime law preempts state law recognizing loss of society damages as remedy available under general maritime law