Cruise ship passengers win right to sue for emotional damages
H.R. 2922 — Hammers' Law · Filed by Don Bacon (R-NE) · 3 cosponsors · Introduced Apr 17, 2025 · Referred to committee
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What it does
This bill amends federal maritime law to allow passengers injured on cruise ships operating on the high seas to sue for nonpecuniary damages—compensation for loss of care, comfort, and companionship—in addition to economic damages. Currently, cruise ship injury claims are subject to the same damage caps that apply to commercial aviation accidents; this bill extends those same caps to cruise ship voyages, creating parity in the types of damages recoverable.
Why we flagged it
The bill's operative mechanism is to extend nonpecuniary damages remedies to cruise ship passengers, aligning maritime injury law with aviation injury law. It is a straightforward expansion of legal remedies, not a deregulation or industry carve-out.
What the text implies
- The bill does not cap nonpecuniary damages for cruise ship injuries—it merely extends the remedy to the same framework that applies to aviation. The actual damage caps live in 46 U.S.C. § 30307(c), which the bill does not restate; the operative effect depends on what that subsection says.
- Cruise lines may face increased litigation and insurance costs as a result of the expanded remedy, which could be passed to consumers through higher ticket prices or reduced service.
- The bill's definition of 'cruise ship' excludes U.S. government vessels and state-operated vessels, creating a carve-out for public maritime operations.
Section numbers refer to the bill text the analysis read — linked under Primary records below.
Who it affects
Cruise ship passengers injured on the high seas gain access to a legal remedy (nonpecuniary damages) that was previously unavailable to them, expanding their ability to recover for dignitary and emotional harms. This aligns cruise ship injury law with aviation injury law and strengthens passenger protections without imposing new costs on the public.
Who stands to gain
- cruise ship passengers (expanded legal remedy)
- personal injury attorneys (increased litigation opportunity)
Named in the bill
46 U.S.C. § 30307, cruise ship operators, cruise ship passengers, Federal Government, State governments
Where it stands
3 cosponsors: 2 Democrats, 1 Republicans.
- Apr 17, 2025 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in House”
- Apr 17, 2025 — Referred to House Committee on the Judiciary · Congress.gov: “Referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary”
Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.
How this was measured
Analysis — Quorum's AI read the bill text published by Congress.gov (1,303 characters) on Aug 17, 2026. Section numbers in the findings refer to that text, linked below; transparency and hidden-provision scores are compared against the median of 16,222 analysed bills.
Status and sponsors — Congress.gov's bill record — actions, committee referrals and cosponsors — loaded nightly. The timeline shows status changes, not every procedural action.
As of — page rendered 2026-10-20.
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