Statement of James I K Knapp, Deputy Assistant Attorney General Criminal Division, Before the Senate Subcommittee on Criminal Law Concerning Archeological Theft on May 22, 1985

• NCJ Number: 98205
• Author(s): J I K Knapp
• Date Published: 1985
• Length: 8 pages
• Corporate Author: US Dept of Justice
• Sale Source: National Institute of Justice/; NCJRS Photocopy Services
• Publication Type: Legislative Hearing/Committee Report
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

James Knapp testifies that from a law enforcement perspective, enactment of S. 605 (which challenges ownership interests of foreign governments in archeological and ethnological materials not yet discovered or recovered) is not desirable.

Abstract

It would impair the Federal Government's ability to prosecute the trafficker in stolen archeological materials who flouts the laws of foreign countries concerning such property. Its enactment could effectively create a legal marketplace within the United States for the items stolen from foreign archeological sites. S. 605 is an attempt to limit the scope of the National Stolen Property Act (NSPA) as interpreted by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit in United States v. McClain (1977). The U.S. Department of Justice believes that the McClain decision reflects the proper interpretation of the NSPA. Under McClain, if a foreign country declares itself the owner of certain property within its territory which has not been reduced to actual possession and imposes controls over such property to enforce its ownership, its property rights are protected by the NSPA.