Associated Press, October 30, 2003

This article can be used with Land and Freedom Economics Lesson 3 on Self-interest and Competition, and US History Lesson 4, on the Declaration and Natural Rights.

RALEIGH, N.C. -- A Connecticut man is suing federal authorities over North Carolina's original copy of the U.S. Bill of Rights that he possessed until this year.

Bob Matthews is suing the feds for what he calls their "illegal sting operation," which brought the 1789 document back to Raleigh 138 years after it disappeared from the state Capitol during the Civil War.

Matthews' lawsuit, filed last week in federal court in Connecticut, accuses U.S. Attorney Frank Whitney of Raleigh, U.S. Marshal Charles Reavis and five other federal prosecutors and investigators of seizing the stolen document illegally.

The document is a draft of the proposed U.S. Bill of Rights that President George Washington dispatched to state lawmakers in 1789 to encourage North Carolina to ratify the U.S. Constitution and join the new nation.

Each of the original 13 states got a copy of the draft, which contained 12 proposed constitutional amendments; 10 were adopted. They protect citizens' freedoms against the powers of the state and federal governments.

In the 1800s, North Carolina's document was displayed at the Capitol. It disappeared when federal troops left Raleigh in 1865 at the end of the Civil War.

Matthews, of Washington Depot, Conn., helped Connecticut antiques dealer Wayne Pratt buy the purloined parchment from two women in 2000 for $200,000.

A federal agent posing as a museum buyer at a March meeting in Philadelphia pretended to purchase the paper from Pratt and Matthews for $5 million. Then he presented a seizure warrant from a North Carolina federal judge.

The federal government has sided with the state, and two experts have certified that the document is North Carolina's copy.

Pratt agreed last month to donate the document to North Carolina; in return, Whitney dropped a federal lawsuit to get it. Whitney also cleared Pratt of possible crimes.

Matthews got nothing.

Matthews says the document is worth at least $30 million, and he wants his half-share, or an equivalent income tax write-off. Archivists have said it is worth up to $30 million.

"The continued illegal possession of the document by the defendants represents an illegal taking of the document without just compensation," the suit says.

State Attorney General Roy Cooper refuted the suit's claims.

"Unfortunately for Mr. Matthews, 'finders, keepers' is not the law of our land," he said.

Whitney has said that Matthews has no claim on the document because Pratt was the dealer and had the right of possession.

The state said the document was originally stolen, and that Matthews cannot claim charitable contribution for what he does not own.

Matthews wants the document back or proceeds from its sale, more money for compensatory and punitive damages, attorney fees, and a jury trial - in Connecticut.

Questions for Discussion

1. Who is Bob Mathews suing, and why?

2. Why was the original draft sent to the North Carolina Legislature?

3. After the document was purchased for $200,000 in 2000, why did Mathews think a buyer would be willing pay $5 million for it?

4. Do you think Mathews should receive any compensation? Explain your answer.

5. Suppose you found, in your Grandpa's attic, an authentic copy of the Declaration of Independence. Who would it belong to? Would you have the right to sell it?

6. Suppose a new volcanic island emerged from the middle of the ocean, and you were the first one to see it. Who would it belong to? Would you have the right to sell it?