Federal district
The wreck was rediscovered by divers John Chatterton and John Yurga. Chatterton lodged a salvage claim in the New Jersey Federal district court, arresting the ship. The salvage case was heard by Federal District Court Judge Joseph Rodriguez, whose father, ironically, had been a passenger on the "Carolina". However, Chatterton subsequently wrote an open letter (at the bottom of the linked page, which is a long treatise on the maritime law issues surrounding salvage) to the diving community saying they were free to take items off the ship, he was simply protecting his position from insurance companies.