Not only did Mel Fisher have to challenge the sea to find the Atocha, he had to battle the Florida state and the Federal governments over the question of ownership of the Atocha's treasure. Treasure hunting is a very expensive proposition. The persons willing to risk their savings to search for treasure should be rewarded by their success.
On the other hand, lost treasures represent historical and cultural resources in which the general public, represented by their governments, have a stake. Historical artifacts should be available to the public for viewing and research. But governments are most unlikely to invest the funds necessary to find and recover lost treasure and cultural artifacts.
The recovery of the Atocha's artifacts in a controlled archaeological manner by treasure salvors put to rest the question of whether non-professionals could be used in archaeological underwater research. But the questions of ownership of the treasure, and of the risk vs. reward for the salvors, led to years of litigation.
Two basic types of legal resources are STATUTORY/REGULATORY LAW generated by the legislative and executive branches of government, and CASE LAW brought before the judicial branch of government by affected parties. The library contains useful resources to search through both these types of legal material.
The electronic copies of these law resources are good for searching by keyword or by citation (if you have that information). The library also has print copies of these publications in the Reference Department's Legal Alcove. The printed version may be more convenient for browsing or photocopying.
Statutory/Regulatory Law Searching for "shipwreck*" in the electronic version of the "U.S. Code" quickly locates
these three laws:
Salvage Act (Aug. 1, 1912, ch. 268, 37 Stat. 242)
Salvage Act (Aug. 26, 1983, Pub. L. 98-89, Sec. 4(b), 97 Stat. 599)
Abandoned Shipwreck Act of 1987 (April 28, 1988, Pub. L. 100-298, 102 Stat. 432)
Federal regulations are issued by many departments and agencies within the government. They first appear in the "Federal Register" and are annually compiled into the Code of Federal Regulations. The department or agency regulations are frequently the way an Act of Congress is fleshed out. A law passed by Congress will, for example, allow an agency to provide emergency relief. The responsible agency, in turn, issues regulations detailing how emergency relief activities are to be administered.
The "Code of Federal Regulations" is divided into 50 Titles as is the "U.S. Code." Several CFR titles reprint a set of regulations entitled, "Protection of Archaeological Resources: Uniform Regulations," e.g., 43 CFR 7, the title dealing with Public Lands.
Florida Statutes and Constitution allows searches of the laws passed by the Florida legislature, and of that state's Constitution. The Florida Constitution is of interest to us because sections of it, dealing with the state's territorial limits in offshore waters, were declared unconstitutional as part of the Atocha litigation. The Florida Statutes contain references to "treasure" and "salvage."The "Florida Administrative Code" records the set of regulations promulgated by Florida departments and agencies. It is analogous to the "Code of Federal Regulations" at the Federal level. It isn't available on the Internet, nor does the NCSU Libraries have a copy.
Case LawLEXIS-NEXIS Academic Universe This site is a rich source of business and legal material. It appeared only three weeks ago, replacing a rather clunky hybrid resource that was available in The Libraries to a maximum of 5 simultaneous users. Librarians are reviewing how this Internet resource compares in content coverage with the older version. Some differences are apparent.
There are several areas of the LEXIS Internet site that provide useful information to a study of the litigation surrounding the Atocha's treasure. Searches in the Legal News, Law Reviews, Federal Case Law, and State Legal Resources areas all provide leads.
The Legal News area provides hits on searches for "Mel Fisher" and for "treasure AND sunk*" The Law Reviews area, indexing legal periodicals, shows hits for "Mel Fisher" and "Atocha"
Searching for Federal Case Law has changed from the earlier LEXIS resource. On the Internet site you can no longer search for all the cases on a topic with a single query. Instead you have to search the various courts individually: District Court, Court of Appeals, Supreme Court. The LEXIS electronic resource has significantly more documentation than the library contains in hard copy. Specifically, you can find "Briefs," written statements of the opposing lawyers submitted to a court before the case is heard, in LEXIS that are not available in volumes of court opinions. Here are the descriptions of four Supreme Court documents relating to the Atocha:
FLORIDA DEPARTMENT OF STATE v. TREASURE SALVORS, INC., ET AL.
(458 U.S. 670; 102 S. Ct. 3304; 1982 U.S. LEXIS 7; 73 L. Ed. 2d
1057; 50 U.S.L.W. 5056) Janury 20, 1982, Argued; July 1, 1982,
Decided.
The U.S. Supreme Court's decision in the matter of the
ownership of the Atocha's treasure.
STATE OF FLORIDA DEPARTMENT OF STATE, Petitioner, vs TREASURE
SALVORS, INC., ARMADA RESEARCH CORP., Respondents. No. 80-1348
OCTOBER TERM, 1980. January 13, 1981. PETITION FOR WRIT OF CERTI-
ORARI TO THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS, FIFTH CIRCUIT.
Written position statement of the State of Florida as she
petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court to review the decision
of the Appeals Court concerning the ownership of the
Atocha's treasure.
STATE OF FLORIDA, DEPARTMENT OF STATE, Petitioner , vs TREASURE
SALVORS, INC., ARMADA RESEARCH CORP., Respondents. No. 80-1348
OCTOBER TERM, 1980. March 23, 1981. On Petition for Writ of
Certiorari To the United States Court of Appeals For the Fifth
Circuit, BRIEF IN OPPOSITION.
Written statement of the Treasure Salvors' lawyer stating
why the Appeals Court decision (in their favor) need not be
reviewed by the U.S. Supreme Court.
STATE OF FLORIDA, DEPARTMENT OF STATE, Petitioner , v. TREASURE
SALVORS, INC., ARMADA RESEARCH CORPORATION, Respondents ., No.
80-1348, OCTOBER TERM, 1980, August 1, 1981, BRIEF OF THE
STATES OF ALABAMA, ALASKA, CALIFORNIA BY ITS STATE LANDS COMMIS-
SION AND ITS STATE HISTORIC PRESERVATION OFFICE, HAWAII, ILLINOIS,
LOUISIANA, MARYLAND, MASSACHUSETTS, MISSISSIPPI, NORTH CAROLINA,
SOUTH CAROLINA AND TEXAS, THE VIRGIN ISLANDS, AMERICAN SAMOA
AND THE GOVERNMENT OF GUAM In Support of the Petitioner, Amici Curiae.
A number of states filed "Friends of the Court" statements
supporting the position taken by the State of Florida.
Similarly, searches in LEXIS for litigation regarding the Atocha, Mel Fisher, and Treasure Salvors can be done in the sections for Appeals Court cases, and District Court (entry level) cases. Below is a bit of data from the first case Mel Fisher brought to secure ownership of the treasure of the Atocha.
TREASURE SALVORS, INC., a corporation, and Armada Research Corp.,
a corporation, Plaintiffs, v. The Unidentified Wrecked and ABAN-
DONED SAILING VESSEL, Her Tackle, Armament, Apparel and Cargo
Located within 2500 Yards of a Point at Coordinates 24 degrees
31.5 feet North Latitude and 82 degrees 20 feet West Longitude,
Said Sailing Vessel is BELIEVED TO BE THE NUESTRA SENORA DE
ATOCHA, Defendant, No. 75-1416-Civ-WM. UNITED STATES DISTRICT
COURT FOR THE SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF FLORIDA (408 F. Supp. 907;
1976 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 16852), February 3, 1976.
This is the first legal action by Mel Fisher to secure
ownership of the Atocha and her treasure. At this time,
Mel brought suit against the ship herself.
The opening paragraphs of the description of the case follows:
This cause came before the Court upon Plaintiff's Motion For
Summary Judgment. The Defendant/Intervenor, the United States
of America, has submitted an opposing memorandum of law. The
sole issue to be resolved by this Court is whether the provis-
ions of the Antiquities Act, 16 U.S.C. sections 432, 433, or
of the Abandoned Property Act, 40 U.S.C. sec. 310, are appli-
cable to the salvage of a ship wreck discovered on the conti-
nental shelf outside the territorial waters of the United States.
Plaintiff brought this action for possession and confirmation
of title against all persons as to an unidentified, wrecked and
abandoned vessel, thought to be the "Nuestra Senora de Atocha,"
which sank in or about the year 1622 while en route from the
Spanish Indes to Spain. The United States [**2] has answered
[*909] and counterclaimed, seeking title to the vessel on the
basis of the statutes cited above. It is undisputed that the
site of the wreck is on the continental shelf but outside the
territorial waters of the United States.
A final section of the LEXIS resource that proved less successful is the State Legal Resources area. It's not obvious sometimes when a case has been brought before a state court or a federal one. To be safe, you should check out both. There are very few cases relating to the Atocha in the Florida LEXIS cases. A search in state case law does allow you to search all court levels within a state as a single search.