Opinion ID: 1239866
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Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Arrest as a means of protecting federal jurisdiction

Text: An in rem action, which is the most common process for enforcing a claim for salvage service, depends on the court's having jurisdiction over the res, the property which is named as defendant. R.M.S. Titanic, Inc., v. Haver, 171 F.3d 943, 964 (4th Cir.1999) (citations omitted). Because an in rem admiralty action is an action against propertyin most instances, a vesselcourts may obtain jurisdiction by ensuring that there is a valid seizure and actual control over the vessel by a marshal of the court. Id. ; see also Taylor v. Carryl, 61 U.S. (20 How.) 583, 591, 15 L.Ed. 1028 (1857). It is the court's exclusive custody and control over the property that gives an admiralty court jurisdiction to adjudicate the rights of the salvor against the world. Haver, 171 F.3d at 964 (citation omitted). To obtain possession over the res, district courts sitting in admiralty may issue a warrant of arrest for a physical part of a shipwreck (an artifact) and, based on this arrest, exercise constructive jurisdiction over the entire shipwreck. See 3A-X Benedict on Admiralty § 137 (2007); see also, e.g., R.M.S. Titanic, Inc. v. Haver, 171 F.3d 943, 964, 967 (4th Cir. 1999) (recognizing that the district court had constructive in rem jurisdiction over a salvage claim because the salvors brought artifacts to the court); Deep Sea Research, 523 U.S. at 496, 118 S.Ct. 1464 (recognizing a court's in rem admiralty jurisdiction on the basis that the salvor presented artifacts from the shipwreck, including china and a bottle of champagne). The arrest does not give the salvor any rights of ownership, but instead protects the salvor's right of salvage. Haver, 171 F.3d at 964. Due process is satisfied because, after the arrest, formal public notice is given. Id. at 956 (commenting that if notice is provided in a newspaper of general circulation, the whole world, it is said, are parties in an admiralty cause). Although a warrant of arrest secures possession of the shipwreck and protects federal jurisdiction in an in rem admiralty action, it does not affect the adjudication of the parties' ultimate right of title. Fl. Dept. of State v. Treasure Salvors, Inc., 458 U.S. 670, 697, 102 S.Ct. 3304, 73 L.Ed.2d 1057 (1982) (citing Tindal v. Wesley, 167 U.S. 204, 223, 17 S.Ct. 770, 42 L.Ed. 137 (1897)). An arrest warrant therefore does not prevent the state from asserting its rights of ownership under the ASA. Caselaw indicates that an arrest warrant is typically issued in an in rem action before the state intervenes. See, e.g., Fathom, 352 F.Supp.2d at 1220 (explaining that it was the arrest warrant that first gave the state notice that a shipwreck had been found within the state's territorial waters); Taylor, 61 U.S. (20 How.) at 599-600 (noting that, in admiralty, it is [t]he seizure of the res, and publication of the monition or invitation to appear [that] is regarded as equivalent to the particular service of process in the courts of law and equity[,] thereby demonstrating that arrest is generally the procedure used to give notice to interested parties that they may wish to bring a claim related to the shipwreck). In the present case, however, Michigan intervened before an arrest warrant was issued. The district court then declined to arrest the vessel, reasoning that because GLEG refused to disclose the precise location of the shipwreck, the company had failed to satisfy the pleading requirements laid out in Supplemental Rule C(3)(a)(i), which governs arrest. We note, for the sake of clarify, that Supplemental Rule C was amended in December of 2006. Although the amendment did not alter the content of the rule, the citation for what was Supplemental Rule C(3)(a)(ii)(A) has been changed to Supplemental Rule C(3)(a)(i). We are using the most recent citation in this opinion. Supplemental Rule C(3)(a) specifies that, before issuing an arrest warrant, a court must review the complaint and any supporting papers. If the conditions for an in rem action appear to exist, the court must issue an order directing the clerk to issue a warrant for the arrest of the vessel or other property that is the subject of the action. Fed.R.Civ.P. Suppl. C(3)(a)(i). The district court below interpreted Supplemental Rule C(3)(a) to mean that, before issuing an arrest warrant, it must make sure that the party has met the requirements of Supplemental Rules C(2) and E(2)(a), which ensure that the issuance of an arrest warrant satisfies due process. See Riverway Co. v. Spivey Marine & Harbor Serv. Co., 598 F.Supp. 909, 913-14 (S.D.Ill.1984) (discussing the role that the Supplemental Rules play in protecting due process). Because the district court determined that GLEG had not complied with the particularity requirements of Supplemental Rules C(2) and E(2)(a) in the first instance (i.e., in its original complaint), the court held that the issuance of an arrest warrant would be improper. GLEG argues on appeal that the general information it provided was sufficient to satisfy the Supplemental Rules for the purpose of allowing the court to arrest the vessel in an in rem admiralty action. For the reasons discussed below, we agree.