Spoilsports!
You’d think there should be 33% finder’s fee, at the very least...
Yep! I see no reason the treasure seekers should not charge Spain for their services an amount equal the find. Certainly the judge if a liberal would have to agree since the would be “fair”.
This makes no sense! Over 200 years ago in international waters?
A hate America judge that should be removed.
This will only encourage treasure hunters to just make off with the stuff and sell it on the black market. No use doing it by the book and getting screwed over for their efforts.
This is pure bullsh*t.
The gold was looted from others, and the ship sank in international waters.
Spain has no more legal claim to this stuff than Swaziland.
This judge is just attempting to parade his PC credentials and show the world how “enlightened” he is.
Pure crap.
Not so fast. This is going to appellate and, if necessary, the Supreme Court. And, that’s exactly where they wanted to go with it from the onset.
Nominated by President George H.W.Bush in 1992.
Who has confirmed that it is the Spanish warship Nuestra Senora de las Mercedes?
Take from the the "Black Swan"/Nuestra Senora de las Mercedes, stored in a warehouse "somewhere" in Tampa.
Spain said the Spanish naval frigate was carrying treasure back from Peru when it was sunk by British gunboats in 1804. The Mercedes sank in the first few minutes of the Battle of Cape St. Mary's as an explosion ripped it apart, killing more than 200 sailors. The attack led Spain to declare war on Britain and enter the Napoleonic Wars on the side of France.
They should put it back then.
If this is not the most insane, asinine, legal ruling I've seen in my 66 years--and I've witnessed plenty--it at least is in the top 10.
Carrying this IDIOT, MOONBAT, Judge's contrived legal opinion to the extreme, anyone finding a $20 bill--or even a quarter--on the ground or elsewhere, would be legally bound to return it to its rightful owner (Uncle Sam) even if said legal tender, was discovered outside the US controlled borders or waters.
UN-Frikkin believable!!!
Finders keepers. District Judge should walk plank yeasterday and be ignored.
It gets me to wondering if Judge Steven Merryday has had some ‘private conversations’ with someone in Spain about this case.
With even one percent of the recovered amount for Spain could be enough to retire on very nicely.
I can potentially see a booming business in boat portable gold smelting furnaces in the future if this stands.
Once the gold is cast into bars, no one will be able to prove where it came from. Sure you lose the historical value, but gold is gold and a good find could still net a tidy profit.
This ruling means that in the future, wrecks found in international waters will be secretly looted, with the cargoes sold off on the international collectors’ market with no publicity, instead of being explored by archaeologists. Vital chapters in human history will now remain unwritten.
If the Little Red Hen had been sued by all the other farm animals, this judge would have made her give up her bread to them.
I always thought that if you found it in international waters it was salvage and the property of the finder. What happened to that law?