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Moon Rock Winds Up In Court

Posted by CmdrTaco on from the i'll-get-that-pesky-moon-rock-if-its-the-last-thing-I-do dept.

Lothar+0 writes "In United States v. Lucite ball containing lunar material (an actual case, I'm not making this up, folks), the feds are suing to get back a moon rock from an American who brought it back from Honduras. They're alleging that this rock from the Apollo 17 mission is stolen property; ironic considering that NASA took something that wasn't under U.S. jurisdiction."

2 of 412 comments (clear)

  1. Re:heh... by Dr.+Awktagon · · Score: 3, Offtopic

    Here's a good example of "in rem" sillyness:

    UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, v. ALL RIGHT, TITLE AND INTEREST IN A 30 ACRE PARCEL OF LAND, MORE OR LESS, AND APPURTENANCES THERETO, KNOWN AS BREEZY HILL ROAD, CITY OF PARKSVILLE, TOWN OF LIBERTY, SULLIVAN COUNTY, NEW YORK

    These forfeiture laws are a mockery of the constitution and are a throwback to the days when property used in a crime became property of the Crown.

    <sarcasm>But hey, none of us are drug dealers so we have nothing to worry about when the government defecates on the constitution, right?&lt/sarcasm>

    Oh well.

  2. Re:Suing to get back stolen property... by Kymermosst · · Score: 2, Offtopic

    No, I suggest the Janet Reno method. Run in with H&K MP5's and shove a barrel up the defendant's nostril.

    Then he'll let the poor moon rock go back to it's father.

    --
    "Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives" should be a convenience store, not a government agency.