DC Court Dismisses Ancient Coin Collectors' FOIA Case as Baltimore Test Case Presses Forward

Cypriot coin subject to U.S. import restrictions.

"Unfortunately for the plaintiffs, I agree with the State Department's decision."  That is the opinion of Judge Richard Leon of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia in his ten page decision dismissing the case of Ancient Coin Collectors Guild et al. v. U.S. Department of State.

The Ancient Coin Collectors Guild (ACCG), the International Association of Professional Numismatists, and the Professional Numismatists Guild together filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit against the State Department in 2007.  The federal district court dismissed the case in 2009, but the court of appeals in 2011 reversed in part, sending the case back to the district court for further review.  The district court reviewed the matter and decided on May 28, 2012 (opinion published on June 11, 2012) to dismiss the suit.

The plaintiffs sought information from the State Department related to the review process of the Cultural Property Advisory Committee (CPAC), which advises the President about enacting import controls to protect cultural property in jeopardy.  Congress fashioned the CPAC process as an integral component to America's implementation of the 1970 UNESCO Convention on the Means of Prohibiting and Preventing the Illicit Import, Export, and Transfer of Cultural Property.

The plaintiffs wanted the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs at the State Department to turn over any information relative to U.S. import controls placed on ancient coins originating from China, Italy, and Cyprus.  In response, the State Department released 109 out of 128 found documents, including 70 full documents and 19 redacted documents.  The balance of the papers were not disclosed based on legal grounds.

When the appeals court sent the case back for reconsideration, the federal district court's task was to assess the redactions contained in a series of emails between an archaeology professor and a State Department employee.  The court's other task was to review whether the State Department sufficiently scoured its files to locate FOIA materials.  The court found that the redacted portions of the emails could be kept confidential because there was a "demonstrated expectation of confidentiality between the parties" under the FOIA law.  The court also found that "the State Department conducted a search reasonably calculated to uncover all the email records responsive to the plaintiffs' FOIA requests."  Therefore, the court dismissed the case.

Meanwhile, the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals scheduled oral argument in the matter of ACCG v. US Customs and Border Protection et al.  The court selected dates between September 18 and September 21.  This case began when the ACCG hoped to challenge cultural heritage import protections enacted by the Cultural Property Implementation Act (CPIA) on Chinese and Cypriot coins.  The ACCG appealed the case following its dismissal in the Maryland federal district court in 2011.

Photo: U.S. State Department.  Hat tip to Paul Barford and Peter Tompa for publicizing news of the FOIA decision. 

CONTACT: www.culturalheritagelawyer.com