The loss of the "Levin J. Marvel" during the hurricane prompted the United States Congress to pass a law in 1956, which allowed the Coast Guard to inspect all vessels with more than six passengers; the previous law only allowed inspections for boats of more than 700 tons, much higher than the 183 tons that the "Marvel" displaced. The inexperienced captain was charged with negligence and manslaughter and stood trial before the United States District Court for the District of Maryland in Baltimore. Those charges carried a prison term of 11 years. Judge Robert Dorsey Watkins, however, acquitted him of the manslaughter charge, instead sentencing him to one-year probation for negligence.