State of California v. Deep Sea Research & USA

On appeal, the appellate court should reverse the decision of the District Court because: (1) the State of California (The State) has a colorable claim to the shipwrecked vessel Brother Jonathan (the vessel) under the Abandoned Shipwreck Act (ASA) inasmuch as the vessel was legally abandoned within the meaning of ASA and even though the vessel may not be embedded in the submerged lands of the State, it is eligible for inclusion in the National Register; (2) any claim by Deep Sea Research, Inc. (Deep Sea) against the State is barred by the Eleventh Amendment to the United States Constitution; and (3) ASA is constitutional. It is unclear whether the State's claim to the vessel under California Public Resources Code section 6313 is preempted by ASA, but the court need not reach a conclusion on that issue.

The State Has Title to the Vessel Because It Was Abandoned. Under Section 2105 (a) (1) of ASA, the United States has title to any abandoned shipwreck which is embedded in submerged lands of a State. Under Section 2105 (c), title to such a shipwreck is transferred to such a State. The first issue, therefore, is whether the wreck in question was abandoned for purposes of this section. The District Court held that it was not abandoned within the meaning of ASA even assuming that the evidence showed that the owners of the vessel had undertaken no efforts to sa

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nsive effort would be required to salvage the vessel. Deep Sea's expert testified that he believed the vessel was embedded. Nevertheless, the District Court could have reasonably relied on other evidence that showed that excavation tools need not be used. The Vessel May Have Been Eligible as a Historic Site. Section 2105 (a(3) permits a finding that an abandoned shipwreck is covered by the statute even if the vessel is not embedded if it is on submerged land, which it is in this case, and "is included in or determined for inclusion in the National Register of Historic Places." The District Court relied on the fact that no such determination had been made nor had the State sought one. A wreck of this type clearly could have been so designated had anyone asked the Department of the Interior. To carry out Congress' intent to include such wrecks within the management jurisdiction of the State, the District Court could have and should have on its own initiative ordered that the matter be referred to the Secretary of the Interior for such a determination. The Eleventh Amendment Bar Gerstenblith says that "some courts have refused to bar in rem suits, reasoning that the suit is against the property and not the state." The Lady
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Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 1807
Approximate Pages = 7 (250 words per page)

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