Supreme Court Declines ACCG Petition

Supreme Court Denies Cert.

http://culturalpropertyobserver.blogspot.com/2013/03/supreme-court-denies-cert.html  

Disappointingly, but perhaps not surprisingly given the some 150 petitions before the Court at its last conference, the Supreme Court has denied the ACCG's petition for certiorari.  (The Court granted certiorari in four cases, two of which were summarily sent back to the Second Circuit for consideration of a decision just issued this year.)

The Supreme Court's order has no precedential value, leaving the Fourth Circuit’s decision that the State Department's and U.S. Customs' decision-making is generally only subject to "political" rather than "judicial" review only applicable in that Circuit.  

ACCG now plans to contest the forfeiture action the Fourth Circuit anticipates the Government will file against the coins the ACCG imported for purposes of its test case. 

The test case is part of the ACCG's continuing effort to educate the public and government decision-makers about the damage overbroad restrictions have done to the ability of American collectors to legally import coins of the sort that remain widely available abroad, including in places like Bulgaria, Cyprus, Greece, Italy and China.  

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COMMENTARY

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As Tompa observes, denial of this petition is disappointing, but is not the end of this case. The forfeiture action remains to be tried and  that venue will provide an opportunity to contest the validity of the State Department's unreasonable and arbitrary regulations restricting importation of ancient coins.

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