
Chief Justice John Roberts: How about an inner tube or inflatable raft? Justice Elena Kagan: Tape some coins to the inner tube and now it’s moving money across the water – is it a vessel then?Justice Stephen Breyer, meanwhile, asked about “Styrofoam sofas” (note to the justice: is there such a thing?) or other “absurd things that have nothing to do with ships or vessels and really could be used theoretically to carry something on the water.” Justice Anthony Kennedy was more concerned about real-life structures, such as the USS Intrepid, an aircraft carrier that was turned into a museum on the Hudson River. While the city’s lawyer, David Frederick of Kellogg, Huber, Hansen, Todd, Evans & Figel, appeared to have a difficult time defending his legal test of a vessel, Mr. Lozman’s arguments might not have sea legs, either. His lawyer, Stanford University law professor Jeffrey Fisher, said the vessel determination should depend on the purpose of the structure in question. Some justices suggested that a purpose-focused test wasn’t grounded in the language of the relevant federal statute. A decision is expected by the end of June. Wall Street Journal