Posted on 08/04/2005 6:22:14 PM PDT by nypokerface
RALEIGH, N.C. - An original copy of the Bill of Rights that was given to North Carolina by George Washington back in 1789 was returned to the state Thursday, culminating a bitter legal tug-of-war over the historic document.
Gov. Mike Easley accepted the weathered document after a judge ordered federal marshals to turn it over to the state — the first time North Carolina has had possession of the document since the end of the Civil War.
"North Carolina's stolen Bill of Rights may have been out of state for nearly 140 years, but never out of mind," Easley said in a statement.
Easley signed a receipt accepting possession of the document, in an ivory-colored frame, from U.S. marshals during a quickly announced ceremony inside the antebellum state Capitol from which the document was stolen by an invading Union soldier in 1865. The document is one of the original 13 delivered to the colonies for review before the final Bill of Rights was approved in 1789.
The stolen document was sold by the Union soldier in 1866 to an Ohio buyer, whose family sold it to Connecticut antiques dealer Wayne Pratt in 2000 for $200,000.
In March 2003, an FBI agent posing as a museum buyer pretended to purchase the paper from Pratt and his investor, Robert V. Matthews, for $5 million. Instead, the agent presented a seizure warrant signed by the judge in the case.
Pratt relinquished his ownership claim to the document and has agreed to donate the document to North Carolina. Matthews continues to claim partial ownership of the paper, which has been valued at up to $40 million.
U.S. District Court Judge Terrence Boyle last year awarded the document to North Carolina, but in January, the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond, Va., told the judge to reconsider.
Boyle determined the document should return to the possession of the person or entity who owned it before the government's sting operation. He ruled Thursday that Pratt had the clearest right to possession, but had relinquished the claim to North Carolina.
"It's just thievery; it's absolute thievery," said Matthews' attorney, Mike Stratton of New Haven, Conn. "Bob Matthews paid real money, $200,000, to buy a document that's been in private hands for 140 years."
A North Carolina legislative leader praised the decision.
"Justice is finally being done, and we're delighted to have it returned," Senate Majority Leader Tony Rand said on the Senate floor.
Easley said the Bill of Rights will be displayed in the state Museum of History.
An offspring of the devil himself!
The British Museum should have some interesting comments on this subject.
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