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Marei von Saher v. Norton Simon Museum of Art at Pasadena, et al.

Paid petition · United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, No. 16-56308 · judgment July 30, 2018


Certiorari denied · May 20, 2019
Pre-decision estimate: 6% cert probability (95% interval 4%–8%)

Before the decision, modestly above the 4.1% base rate. The model weighted this up for a Ninth Circuit decision below, a circuit split argued in the petition, and a dissent in the court below (flagged in the petition).

Questions presented

Where artworks were forcibly confiscated from their Jewish owner by Nazi Reichsmarschall Hermann Göring, then recovered by the Dutch government after WWII, and are now in private hands in the U.S., and their ownership is now disputed between U.S. citizens,

  1. May a court invoke the act of state doctrine to refuse to adjudicate true title based on Dutch proceedings when the Netherlands eschews any sovereign interest in the resolution of the dispute? And,

  2. May a court invoke the act of state doctrine to refuse to adjudicate true title when such refusal is contrary to the express foreign policy of the United States concerning the recovery of looted Holocaust assets? (i)

Counsel of record

For petitioner
Samuel Issacharoff

For respondent
Fred Anthony Rowley Jr.
Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati

Case

Conference history
Distributed for 1 conference

Amicus briefs
3 cert-stage

Linked docket
18A543

Proceedings

  1. May 20 2019
    Petition DENIED.
  2. Apr 30 2019
    DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 5/16/2019.
  3. Apr 29 2019
    Reply of petitioner Marei von Saher filed.
  4. Apr 15 2019
    Brief of respondents Norton Simon Museum of Art at Pasadena, et al. in opposition filed.
  5. Mar 14 2019
    Brief amicus curiae of The Commission for Art Recovery filed.
  6. Mar 14 2019
    Brief amici curiae of The 1939 Society, et al. filed.
  7. Mar 14 2019
    Brief amici curiae of Current and Former Members of Congress filed.
  8. Feb 28 2019
    Motion to extend the time to file a response is granted and the time is extended to and including April 15, 2019.
  9. Feb 27 2019
    Motion to extend the time to file a response from March 14, 2019 to April 15, 2019, submitted to The Clerk.
  10. Feb 26 2019
    Blanket Consent filed by Respondents, Norton Simon Museum of Art at Pasadena; Norton Simon Art Foundation.
  11. Feb 12 2019
    Blanket Consent filed by Petitioner, Marei von Saher.
  12. Feb 08 2019
    Petition for a writ of certiorari filed. (Response due March 14, 2019)
  13. Nov 26 2018
    Application (18A543) granted by Justice Kagan extending the time to file until February 8, 2019.
  14. Nov 20 2018
    Application (18A543) to extend the time to file a petition for a writ of certiorari from December 10, 2018 to February 8, 2019, submitted to Justice Kagan.