Norman Rockwell, FDR's Press Secretary, Roman Law, and Property

A short excerpt from the long and interesting Elam v. Early, decided Friday by Fourth Circuit Marvin Judge Quattlebaum, joined by Judge Pamela Harris:

Our story begins during the Franklin D. Roosevelt administration. In 1943, famed artist Norman Rockwell drew four panels capturing various visitors in the West Wing waiting for an audience with FDR. That same year, Rockwell gifted the four original illustrations—entitled So You Want to See the President—to FDR’s Press Secretary, Stephen T. Early…. Early was the longest-serving press secretary in our nation’s history, holding the role for twelve years under President Franklin D. Roosevelt. Roughly eight decades later, his relatives are fighting over this art….

It all turns on a claim that Early had given the prints (appraised in 1979 for $80K, and doubtless worth much more now) as a gift to his daughter (plaintiff Elam’s mother) in 1949—and the fact that Helen had possession of them for a considerable amount of time. An excerpt from the legal discussion:

Virginia generally presumes that possession indicates ownership…. The importance Virginia law places on the possession of property in determining ownership is nothing new. In fact, it dates all the way back to Roman law…. By Justinian’s time (482–565 A.D.), this doctrine was extended to chattels….

And the conclusion:

Family disputes are often messy and always unpleasant. The presumption that Elam owns the Rockwells because Helen possessed them may not make this dispute any more pleasant, but it does help sort through the mess. Following Virginia law, we affirm the district court [, which] {found that Elam’s possession of the Rockwells created a presumption of ownership, which the Earlys did not rebut}.

Judge Julius Richardson dissented; an excerpt:

I don’t doubt the existence of the presumption of ownership from possession. Since the days of Hammurabi’s Code, individuals embroiled in property disputes have been able to take their disputes to a factfinder. And if the ownership of the property was uncertain, a factfinder could use possession to break the tie.

But the factfinder was just that—a finder of facts. That’s why, in the United States, the presumption that possession weighs in favor of ownership is, and always has been, a device for allocating the burden of proof when settling disputes as a matter of fact—not, as summary judgment does, as a matter of law.

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