Lawsuits :

30 July 2018: Ruling of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in the case of Marei von Saher vs the Norton Simon Museum

The 3-0 ruling against the claim for two Cranach paintings depicting Adam and Eve invoked the act of state doctrine, where U.S. courts typically defer to foreign governments’ sovereign actions and avoid interfering with the executive branch’s ability to conduct foreign policy. Judge Margaret McKeown said ruling for von Saher would require nullifying three “official” Dutch government actions: their 1966 sale to George Stroganoff-Scherbatoff, a onetime U.S. Navy commander and descendant of Russian aristocracy who sold the painting to the Norton Simon Museum, a 1999 decision not to restore von Saher’s rights, and a 2006 decision that her claim had been “settled.” “Without question, the Nazi plunder of artwork was a moral atrocity that compels an appropriate governmental response,” McKeown wrote. “But the record ... reveals an official conveyance from the Dutch government to Stroganoff thrice ‘settled’ by Dutch authorities. For all the reasons the doctrine exists, we decline the invitation to invalidate the official actions of the Netherlands.”  To read the ruling, click here.