We confront the difficult legal questions of our times. We do not shy away from the questions that might stump lesser legal minds. Now that being said, we can think of one jurist, a baseball purist, who might well be the authority to weigh in on this problem of property law.
Facts: Baseball game in Philadelphia (a city that once booed Santa Claus as a December football game, and a stadium that has an on cite jail for unruly fans, so you know what we are dealing with).
A foul ball is hit and an enterprising fan catches the ball in his hat. The momentum of the ball rips the hat from his hand and another fan behind him has the ball. The original Possessor One of the ball is wearing a Roy Halliday Baseball Jersey. Possessor Two (the subsequent and final possessor) of the ball is wearing an Eagles Jersey.
Querry: this is a toughie. If Possessor One's hat with the ball is caught by Possessor Two, does Possessor Two have a right to ball, which is inside the hat (the property) of Possessor One? Can Possessor Two hand the hat to Possessor One and keep the ball? Or because the ball is in the hat which belongs to Possessor One, is the ball still the property of Possessor One although the hat and the ball are in the temporary custody and control of Possessor Two?
Have at it.
Hat guy would cite to Ghen v. Rich, 8 F. 159 (Mass. 1881) (whaling case). The hat was his "unique mark" just like a lance on a whale, so it's his. Just like when the dead whale washed up at sea.
ReplyDeleteThe guy in the Eagles jersey who actually physically caught the ball with his hands, despite the baseball cap being involved, would cite to Pierson v. Post, 3 Cai. R. 175 (NY 1805) (fox trapping case). Simply being in pursuit does not lock in property rights.
I say Philly Eagles jersey guy gets it. There's no custom like in the whaling case that would apply. Next time bring a baseball glove.
Shout out to the late Professor Marc Fajer and his elements class at UM Law.
vmi
Very easy. Consider: If a fictional Fan 1 is about to catch a foul ball and an obnoxious Fan 2 pushes him and the ball is caught by Fan 3, who owns the ball? Fan 3. Possession is 100% of his right. You can play around with this scenario. There are thousands of videos of fans chasing after a baseball and acting like starving wolves chasing a piece of meat. Or suppose Fan 1 and Fan 2 get into a fist fight over the ball and it fall into the lap of Fan 4 who is ten rows behind them? There is some law on this issue: it is called the Law Of The Jungle.
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