ZYCH v. UNIDENTIFIED WRECKED & ABANDONED VESSEL

No. 93-1426.

19 F.3d 1136 (1994)

Harry ZYCH, doing business as American Diving and Salvage Company, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. UNIDENTIFIED, WRECKED AND ABANDONED VESSEL, BELIEVED TO BE THE "SEABIRD", which sank in 1868, her engines, boilers, machinery, tackle, apparel, and cargo, located within five miles of a point at coordinates 42 degrees, 17 minutes north latitude, 87 degrees, 47 minutes west longitude, Defendant, and Illinois Historic Preservation Agency, Illinois Department of Transportation, and United States of America, Intervening Defendants-Appellees.

United States Court of Appeals, Seventh Circuit.

Decided March 21, 1994.

Rehearing and Suggestion for Rehearing Denied April 22, 1994.


Attorney(s) appearing for the Case

Paul N. Keller (argued), Park Ridge, IL, for Harry Zych.

James R. Carroll, Rosalyn B. Kaplan, Asst. Attys. Gen., Chicago, IL, for Unidentified, Wrecked and Abandoned Vessel, believed to be the "Seabird".

James R. Carroll, Rosalyn B. Kaplan, Asst. Attys. Gen., Richard Linden, Roland W. Burris, Office of Atty. Gen., Jennifer A. Keller, Asst. Atty. Gen. (argued), Civ. Appeals Div., Chicago, IL, for Illinois Historic Preservation Agency and Illinois Dept. of Transp.

Barbara B. O'Malley (argued), Dept. of Justice, Torts Branch, Civ. Div., Washington, DC, for U.S.

Elizabeth Sherrill Merritt, Thompson McCord Mayes, David A. Doheny, Alexandra E. Acosta, Nat. Trust for Historic Preservation in U.S., Washington, DC, for Nat. Trust for Historical Preservation in the U.S., Society of Professional Archaeologists, Society for Historical Archaeology, Advisory Council on Underwater Archaeology, Society for American Archeology, Council of American Maritime Museums, Ass'n for Great Lakes Maritime History, and The Landmark Preservation Council of Illinois, Inc., amici curiae.

Robert A. Butterworth, Eric J. Taylor, Office of Atty. Gen., Tallahassee, FL, for State of Fla., amicus curiae.

Jimmy Evens, Office of Atty. Gen., Montgomery, AL, for State of Ala., amicus curiae.

Charles M. Oberly, III, Office of Atty. Gen., Wilmington, DE, for State of Del., amicus curiae.

Michael J. Bowers, Office of Atty. Gen., Atlanta, GA, for State of Ga., amicus curiae.

Pamela Carter, Office of Atty. Gen., Federal Litigation, Indianapolis, IN, for State of Ind., amicus curiae.

Chris Gorman, Office of Atty. Gen., Com. of Ky., Frankfort, KY, for State of Ky., amicus curiae.

J. Joseph Curran, Jr., Office of Atty. Gen., Crownsville, MD, for State of Md., amicus curiae.

Frank J. Kelly, Office of Atty. Gen., Lansing, MI, for State of Mich., amicus curiae.

Fred DeVesa, Office of Atty. Gen., Trenton, NJ, for State of N.J., amicus curiae.

Robert Abrams, Office of Atty. Gen., New York City, for State of N.Y., amicus curiae.

Michael F. Easley, Office of Atty. Gen., Raleigh, NC, for State of N.C., amicus curiae.

Lee Fisher, Office of Atty. Gen., Columbus, OH, for State of Ohio, amicus curiae.

James E. O'Neil, Office of Atty. Gen., Providence, RI, for State of R.I., amicus curiae.

T. Travis Medlock, Office of Atty. Gen., Columbia, SC, for State of S.C., amicus curiae.

Dan Morales, Office of Atty. Gen., Austin, TX, for State of Tex., amicus curiae.

Jeffrey L. Amestoy, Office of Atty. Gen., Montpelier, VT, for State of Vt., amicus curiae.

Stephen D. Rosenthal, Office of Atty. Gen., Com. of Va., Richmond, VA, for State of Va., amicus curiae.

James E. Doyle, Atty. Gen., Office of Atty. Gen., Wisconsin Dept. of Justice, Madison, WI, for State of Wis., amicus curiae.

Malaetasi Togafau, Office of Atty. Gen., Territory of American Samoa, Pago Page, AS, for Territory of American Samoa, amicus curiae.

Rosalie Ballentine, Office of Atty. Gen., Territory of the Virgin Islands, St. Thomas, VI, for Territory of the Virgin Islands, amicus curiae.

Elizabeth Barrett-Anderson, Atty. Gen., Office of Atty. Gen., Territory of Guam, Agana, GU, for Territory of Guam, amicus curiae.

Robert C. Naraja, Atty. Gen., Territory of Northern Mariana Islands, Mariana Island, Saipan, MP, for Territory of Northern Mariana Islands, amicus curiae.

James K. Pharris, Michael S. Grossman, Office of Atty. Gen. of Wash., Olympia, WA, for State of Wash., amicus curiae.

Before BAUER, FRIEDMAN, and RIPPLE, Circuit Judges.


Rehearing and Suggestion for Rehearing En Banc Denied April 22, 1994.

BAUER, Circuit Judge.

Harry Zych filed this in rem action to obtain title to an abandoned shipwreck, the Seabird, or, alternatively, a salvage award. The case was presented to the district court and that court dismissed Zych's case for want of jurisdiction. We reversed and remanded the case to the district court. The district court dismissed the case a second time. Zych appeals...

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