Morris v. Hotel Riviera, Inc.

704 F.2d 1113 Sheldon S. MORRIS, Naomi J. Morris, and the Continental Insurance Company, a foreign insurance corporation, Plaintiffs/Appellants, v. HOTEL RIVIERA, INC., a Nevada corporation, dba Riviera Hotel, Defendant/Appellee. No. 82-5734. United States Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit. Submitted March 16, 1983. Decided April 26, 1983. Johnson, Pilkington & Reynolds, Las Vegas, Nev., for plaintiffs/appellants. Cromer, Barker, Michaelson, Gillock & Rawlings, Las Vegas, Nev., for defendant/appellee. Appeal from the United States District Court for the District of Nevada. Before WRIGHT, CANBY, and BOOCHEVER, Circuit Judges. PER CURIAM: 1 Appellants Sheldon and Naomi Morris and Continental Insurance Company (Continental) seek $75,000 damages for jewels lost when the Morrises were guests of the appellee, Hotel Riviera, Inc. (Riviera). Riviera contends that the Nevada Innkeeper Statute, Nev.Rev.Stat. Sec. 651.010 (1979), limits appellants' potential recovery to $750 and renders them unable to satisfy the $10,000 amount in controversy required by 28 U.S.C. Sec. 1332 (1976) for diversity actions. The Morrises and Continental maintain that the statute violates the fourteenth…