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2017 | OriginalPaper | Buchkapitel

7. Cassirer v. Kingdom of Spain and Thyssen-Bornemisza Collection Foundation

verfasst von : Bruce L. Hay

Erschienen in: Nazi-Looted Art and the Law

Verlag: Springer International Publishing

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Abstract

In Cassirer v. Kingdom of Spain and Thyssen-Bornemisza Collection Foundation, heirs of Lilly Cassirer sued in the American courts to recover a Pissarro painting the Nazis seized from her by the Nazis in Munich in 1939, which was later sold in the United States and was eventually acquired by the Spanish government and placed in the Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum in Madrid. This chapter examines the adjudication of the case, which raises a host of problems of constitutional law, conflicts of law, and foreign property law.

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Vorheriges Kapitel Von Saher v. Norton Simon Museum of Art

Nächstes Kapitel Grosz v. Museum of Modern Art

On the Cassirer family, see Müller and Tatzkow (2010), pp. 10–28. They were also the source of the van Gogh at issue in Orkin v. Taylor, discussed in Chap. 5.

Lilly was the widow of Julius’s son Fritz Cassirer (1871–1926).

Soto (2005). Hans Thyssen-Bornemisza’s uncle Fritz, a German industrialist, was an early supporter of the Nazi regime, which later turned against him because of his Catholicism.

Cassirer v. Kingdom of Spain and Thyssen-Bornemisza Foundation, 461 F. Supp.2d 1157 (C.D. Cal. 2006).

The appeal was initially decided by a three-judge panel, and then reheard en banc by an eleven-judge panel.

28 U.S.C. § 1601 (1976).

Cassirer v. Kingdom of Spain and Thyssen-Bornemisza Foundation, 616 F.3d 1019 (9th Cir. 2010)(en banc), cert. denied, 564 U.S. 1037 (2011). (We will refer to this 2010 court of appeals decision as “Cassirer I.”) The court of appeals dismissed the appeal with respect to the defendants’ objections to personal jurisdiction, justiciability, and venue, holding that these issues were beyond its jurisdiction on interlocutory review.

In return, the Thyssen-Bornemisza Foundation dropped its remaining jurisdictional defenses.

Cassirer v. Thyssen-Bornemisza Foundation, 2012 WL 1285771 (C.D. Cal. 2012). The court reasoned that the claim had accrued in 2000, when Cassirer learned of the painting’s location, and had expired in 2003, two years before the complaint had been filed.

Cal. Civ. Proc. Code § 338(c)(3) (2010).

Cassirer v. Thyssen-Bornemisza Foundation, 737 F.3d 613 (9th Cir. 2013). We will refer to this 2013 court of appeals decision as “Cassirer II.”

Cassirer v. Thyssen-Bornemisza Foundation, 153 F. Supp.3d 1148 (C.D. Cal. 2015).

The Thyssen-Bornemisza Foundation sought immunity on the theory that the museum, while privately held, was nonetheless an “instrumentality” of the state.

See Sections 3.3 and 4.3 above. On the American law of foreign state immunity, see American Law Institute (2016) §§ 455–63; Vandenberg (2006); Whytock (2013). For comparative perspectives, see Cassese (2005), Fox and Webb (2013), and Shaw (1997).

Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act, 28 U.S.C. § 1605(a)(3).

See Cassirer, 461 F. Supp.2d at 1164.

Altmann v. Republic of Austria, 317 F.3d 954, 968 (9th Cir. 2002), quoted in Cassirer, 461 F. Supp.2d at 1165.

Cassirer, 461 F. Supp.2d at 1165 (quoting Nazi citizenship laws).

Id. at 1165–66. The defendants did not dispute this conclusion on appeal.

Cassirer I, 616 F.3d at 1028.

Id.

Id. (quoting 28 U.S.C. § 1605(a)(3) and Dean v. United States, 556 U.S. 568, 572 (2009)) (emphasis in original).

Cassirer I, 616 F.3d at 1028.

Id. at 1028.

Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act, 28 U.S.C. § 1603(d).

Cassirer I, 616 F.3d at 1032 (quoting Republic of Argentina v. Weltover, Inc., 504 U.S. 607, 614 (1992)).

Cassirer I, 616 F.3d at 1033–34, citing Altmann, 317 F.3d at 969.

Id. at 1034.

Id.

H.R.Rep. No. 94–1487 (1976), reprinted in 1976 U.S. Code Cong. & Admin. News 6604, 6610, quoted in Cassirer I, 616 F.3d at 1035.

Cassirer I, 616 F.3d at 1035. The court pointed to the Supreme Court’s repeated emphasis on the comprehensiveness of the Act’s criteria. See Republic of Austria v. Altmann, 541 U.S. 677, 699 (2004); Republic of Argentina v. Weltover, Inc., 504 U.S. 607, 610 (1992); Verlinden B.V. v. Central Bank of Nigeria, 461 U.S. 480, 488 (1983).

Cassirer I, 616 F.3d at 1036–37.

International Shoe Co. v. State of Washington, 326 U.S. 310 (1945). See generally Parrish (2006), Peterson (2010), and Rhodes and Robertson (2014); see also American Law Institute (2016) § 302.

Cassirer, 461 F. Supp.2d at 1168 (quoting Altmann v. Republic of Austria, 142 F. Supp.2d 1187, (C.D. Cal. 2001)).

The court also concluded that California was an appropriate venue under the Act, which authorizes suit “in any judicial district in which the [foreign state] agency or instrumentality is … doing business.” 28 U.S.C. § 1391(f). The court found that the museum’s documented sales of merchandise to residents of the district was enough to constitute “doing business.” Cassirer, 461 F. Supp.2d at 1177. The museum dropped its objections to personal jurisdiction and venue before the court of appeals could rule on them.

Allen v. Wright, 468 U.S. 737, 750 (1984), quoted in Cassirer, 461 F. Supp.2d at 1163.

Cassirer, 461 F. Supp.2d at 1168.

Id.

As with personal jurisdiction and venue, the museum dropped its justiciability objection before it could be ruled on by the court of appeals.

Cal. Code Civ. Proc. §338(c)(1). See Section 5.4 above.

2002 Cal. Legis. Serv. Ch. 332 (A.B. 1758).

Von Saher v. Norton Simon Museum of Art, 592 F.3d 954 (9th Cir. 2010) (quoting Deutsch v. Turner Corp., 324 F.3d 692, 712 (9th Cir. 2003)), cert. denied, 564 U.S. 1037 (2011). See Section 6.3 above.

Cal. Code Civ Proc. § 338(c)(3)(A). On the 2010 legislation, see Shah (2017).

“Actual discovery,” the statute states, “does not include any constructive knowledge imputed by law.” Cal. Code Civ Proc. § 338(c)(3)(B)(i). On constructive discovery, see Section 5.4 above.

Cal. Code Civ Proc. § 338(c)(3)(B).

2010 Cal. Legis. Serv. Ch. 691 (A.B. 2765).

Id.

592 F.3d 954 (9th Cir. 2010), cert. denied, 564 U.S. 1037 (2011).

Von Saher, 592 F.3d at 966, 968 (quoting Deutsch, 324 F.3d at 712).

Von Saher, 592 F.3d at 964, 965.

Cassirer v. Thyssen-Bornemisza Foundation, 2012 WL 1285771, *2 (C.D. Cal. 2012).

Id.

Id. *2, *18.

Id. at *2 (quoting legislative history).

Id. at *18.

Cassirer II, 737 F.3d at 617–18.

Id. at 618.

Id. (citing Western Prelacy of the Armenian Apostolic Church v. J. Paul Getty Museum, No. BC438824 (L.A. Co. Super. Ct. Aug. 1, 2011), and Rafaelli v. Getty Images, Inc., No. 2:12–cv–00563–CAS–PJW (C.D. Cal. Jan. 20, 2012)).

Cassirer II, 737 F.3d at 619.

Starks v. S.E. Rykoff Co., 673 F.2d 1106, 1109 (9th Cir. 1982), quoted in Cassirer II, 737 F.3d at 620.

Cassirer II, 737 F.3d at 620. On remand.

Following remand, as discussed below in Section 7.6, the district court found that the museum was the rightful owner of the painting under the Spanish law of adverse possession. In dictum, it opined that if the 2010 California statute were employed to strip the museum of ownership, due process of law would be violated. See its 2015 opinion in Cassirer, 153 F. Supp.3d at 1167–68.

Minneapolis Star and Tribune Co. v. Minnesota Commissioner of Revenue, 460 U.S. 575 (1983).

Quoted by the district court in Cassirer, 2012 WL 1285771, *22.

Cassirer II, 737 F.3d at 621.

Id.

The museum also argued that it had acquired title by adverse possession under Swiss law. The district court found it unnecessary to address this argument because it ruled in the museum’s favor on the application of Spanish law.

Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act, 28 U.S.C. § 1606. The Act does modify the substantive law in some cases by specifying that compensatory, but not punitive, damages are available against foreign states. Id.

Harris v. Polskie Linie Lotnicze, 820 F.2d 1000, 1003–4 (9th Cir. 1987). See also Liu v. Republic of China, 892 F.2d 1419, 1425 (9th Cir. 1989), cert. dismissed, 497 U.S. 1058 (1990); Schoenberg v. Exportadora de Sal, S.A. de C.V., 930 F.2d 777, 782 (9th Cir. 1991).

Klaxon Co. v. Stentor Electric Manufacturing Co., 313 U.S. 487, 496 (1941); Erie Railroad Co. v. Tompkins, 304 U.S. 64 (1938). The Erie decision held that diversity cases are generally governed by state law; the Klaxon decision held that in selecting the applicable law, the federal court should follow the forum state’s choice-of-law rules.

820 F.2d 1000 (9th Cir. 1987).

Harris, 820 F.2d at 1003–4.

Corporacion Venezolana de Fomento v. Vinteror Sales Corp., 629 F.2d 786, 795 (2d Cir. 1980), quoted in Harris, 820 F.2d at 1003.

See, for example, Oveissi v. Islamic Republic of Iran, 573 F.3d 835, 841–42 (D.C. Cir. 2009); O’Bryan v. Holy See, 556 F.3d 361, 381 n. 8 (6th Cir. 2009), cert denied, 558 U.S. 819 (2009); Barkanic v. General Administrator of Civil Aviation of the People’s Republic of China, 923 F.2d 957, 959–60 (2d Cir. 1991).

Oveissi, 573 F.3d at 841 (quoting 28 U.S.C. § 1606).

Cassirer, 153 F. Supp.3d at 1154. The court was referring to Sachs v. Republic of Austria, 737 F.3d 584, 600 n. 14 (9th Cir. 2013), rev’d on other grounds, 136 S. Ct. 390 (2015).

Cassirer, 153 F. Supp.3d at 1154.

See American Law Institute (1971). In this discussion we will refer to this work simply as the Restatement.

Harris, 820 F.2d at 1003.

See Liu, 892 F.2d at 1426; Schoenberg, 930 F.2d at 782; see also Sachs, 600 n. 14.

Cassirer, 153 F. Supp.3d at 1154. On American choice-of-law doctrines, see generally Weintraub (2005) and Symeonides (2006).

American Law Institute (1971) §§ 6, 222, quoted in Cassirer, 153 F. Supp.3d at 1154.

American Law Institute (1971) § 246, quoted in Cassirer, 153 F. Supp.3d at 1155.

American Law Institute (1971) § 246 comment, quoted in Cassirer, 153 F. Supp.3d at 1155.

Cassirer, 153 F. Supp.3d at 1155.

Id.

Kearney v. Salomon Smith Barney, Inc., 45 Cal.Rptr.3d 730, 740 (2006); Bernhard v. Harrah’s Club, 128 Cal.Rptr. 215, 219 (1976).

Cassirer, 153 F. Supp.3d at 1156.

Id. at 1157.

Id.

Id. at 1157–58.

McCann v. Foster Wheeler LLC, 105 Cal.Rptr.3d 378, 399 (2010), quoted in Cassirer, 153 F. Supp.3d at 1158.

Cassirer, 153 F. Supp.3d at 1159.

100

Id.

101

Id. at 1160.

102

Id., citing Spanish Civil Code Article 1955.

103

Id.

104

Pacanowska and Soto (2011), p. 646, quoted in Cassirer, 153 F. Supp.3d at 1161.

105

Declaration of Prof. Alfonso-Luis Calvo Caravaca, quoted in Cassirer, 153 F. Supp.3d at 1161.

106

Cassirer, 153 F. Supp.3d at 1161.

107

Declaration of Prof. Alfonso-Luis Calvo Caravaca, quoted in id. at 1161.

108

Pacanowska and Soto (2011), p. 647, quoted in Cassirer, 153 F. Supp.3d at 1161.

109

Declaration of Prof. Alfonso-Luis Calvo Caravaca, quoted in Cassirer, 153 F. Supp.3d at 1161.

110

Id. at 1163.

111

Cassirer, 153 F. Supp.3d at 1161.

112

Id.

113

Id.

114

Spanish Civil Code Article 1948, quoted in Cassirer, 153 F. Supp.3d at 1162.

115

Cassirer, 153 F. Supp.3d at 1162. The district court rejected the Cassirers’ argument that the museum’s claim of ownership was defeated by a provision of Spanish law denying adverse possession rights to thieves and their accessories. The museum, the court ruled, was not an accessory to the Nazis who stole the painting in 1939. Id. at 1163. The district court also rejected the Cassirers’ contention that Spain’s law of adverse possession violated the European Convention on Human Rights, ruling that the law served the “legitimate interests of certainty of title, protecting defendants from stale claims, and encouraging plaintiffs not to sleep on their rights.” Id. at 1167.

116

Id. at 1168.

117

Id.

American Law Institute. 1971. Restatement (Second) of Conflicts of Law. Philadelphia, PA: American Law Institute.

———. 2016. Restatement (Fourth) of the Foreign Relations Law of the United States. Tentative Draft. Philadelphia, PA: American Law Institute.

Cassese, Antonio. 2005. International Law. 2nd ed. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Fox, Hazel, and Philippa Webb. 2013. The Law of State Immunity. 3rd ed. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Müller, Melissa, and Monika Tatzkow. 2010. Lost Lives, Lost Art: Jewish Collectors, Nazi Art Theft. London: Frontline.

Pacanowska, Isabel V. González, and Carlos Manuel Díez Soto. 2011. National Report on the Transfer of Movables in Spain. In National Report on the Transfer of Movables in Europe, ed. Wolfgang Faber and Brigitta Lurger, vol. 5, 393–656. Munich: Sellier.

Parrish, Austen L. 2006. Sovereignty, Not Due Process: Personal Jurisdiction over Nonresident Aliens. Wake Forest Law Review 41: 1–60.

Peterson, Todd Davis. 2010. The Timing of Minimum Contacts. George Washington Law Review 79: 101–160.

Rhodes, Charles W. “Rocky”, and Cassandra B. Robertson. 2014. Toward a New Equilibrium in Personal Jurisdiction. UC Davis Law Review 48: 207–270.

Shah, Rajika L. 2017. The Making of California’s Art Recovery Statute: The Long Road to Section 338(c)(3). Chapman Law Review 20: 77–118.

Shaw, Malcolm. 1997. International Law. 4th ed. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Soto, Onell R. 2005. Holocaust Survivor Wants Art Returned. San Diego Tribune, May 11.

Symeonides, Symeon C. 2006. The American Choice-of-Law Revolution in the Courts: Past, Present and Future. Leiden: Martinus Nijhoff.

Vandenberg, David P. 2006. In the Wake of Republic of Austria v. Altmann: The Current Status of Foreign Immunity in United States Courts. University of Colorado Law Review 77: 739–766.

Weintraub, Russell J. 2005. Commentary on the Conflict of Laws. 5th ed. New York: Foundation Press.

Whytock, Christopher A. 2013. Foreign State Immunity and the Right to Court Access. Boston University Law Review 93: 2033–2093.

Allen v. Wright, 468 U.S. 737 (1984)

Altmann v. Republic of Austria, 142 F. Supp.2d 1187 (C.D. Cal. 2001), aff’d, 317 F.3d 954 (9th Cir. 2003), aff’d, 541 U.S. 699 (2004)

Barkanic v. General Administrator of Civil Aviation of the People’s Republic of China, 923 F.2d 957 (2d Cir. 1991)

Bernhard v. Harrah’s Club, 128 Cal.Rptr. 215 (1976)

Cassirer v. Kingdom of Spain and Thyssen-Bornemisza Foundation, 461 F. Supp.2d 1157 (C.D. Cal. 2006), aff’d in part and appeal dismissed in part, 616 F.3d 1019 (9th Cir. 2010)(en banc), cert. denied, 564 U.S. 1037 (2011), on remand, 2012 WL 1285771 (C.D. Cal. 2012), aff’d in part and rev’d in part, 737 F.3d 613 (9th Cir. 2013), on remand, 153 F. Supp.3d 1148 (C.D. Cal. 2015), appeal docketed, No. 15-55977 (9th Cir. June 24, 2015)

Corporacion Venezolana de Fomento v. Vinteror Sales Corp., 629 F.2d 786 (2d Cir. 1980), cert. denied, 449 U.S. 1080 (1981)

Deutsch v. Turner Corp., 324 F.3d 692 (9th Cir. 2003), cert. denied, 540 U.S. 820 (2003)

Erie Erie Railroad Co. v. Tompkins, 304 U.S. 64 (1938)

Harris v. Polskie Linie Lotnicze, 820 F.2d 1000 (9th Cir. 1987)

International Shoe Co. v. State of Washington, 326 U.S. 310 (1945)

Kearney v. Salomon Smith Barney, Inc., 45 Cal.Rptr.3d 730 (2006)

Klaxon Co. v. Stentor Electric Manufacturing Co., 313 U.S. 487 (1941)

Liu v. Republic of China, 892 F.2d 1419 (9th Cir. 1989), cert. dismissed, 497 U.S. 1058 (1990)

McCann v. Foster Wheeler LLC, 105 Cal.Rptr.3d 378 (2010)

Minneapolis Star and Tribune Co. v. Minnesota Commissioner of Revenue, 460 U.S. 575 (1983)

O’Bryan v. Holy See, 556 F.3d 361 (6th Cir. 2009), cert denied, 558 U.S. 819 (2009)

Oveissi v. Islamic Republic of Iran, 573 F.3d 835 (D.C. Cir. 2009)

Rafaelli v. Getty Images, Inc., No. 2:12–cv–00563–CAS–PJW (C.D. Cal. Jan. 20, 2012)

Republic of Argentina v. Weltover, Inc., 504 U.S. 607 (1992)

Sachs v. Republic of Austria, 737 F.3d 584 (9th Cir. 2013), rev’d, 136 S. Ct. 390 (2015)

Schoenberg v. Exportadora de Sal, S.A. de C.V., 930 F.2d 777 (9th Cir. 1991)

Starks v. S.E. Rykoff Co., 673 F.2d 1106 (9th Cir. 1982)

Verlinden B.V. v. Central Bank of Nigeria, 461 U.S. 480, 488 (1983)

Von Saher v. Norton Simon Museum of Art, 592 F.3d 954 (9th Cir. 2010), cert. denied, 564 U.S. 1037 (2011)

Western Prelacy of the Armenian Apostolic Church v. J. Paul Getty Museum, No. BC438824 (L.A. Co. Super. Ct. Aug. 1, 2011)

Titel: Cassirer v. Kingdom of Spain and Thyssen-Bornemisza Collection Foundation
verfasst von: Bruce L. Hay
Verlag: Springer International Publishing
Buch: Nazi-Looted Art and the Law
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-64966-5

Electronic ISBN: 978-3-319-64967-2

Copyright-Jahr: 2017
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-64967-2_7