Judge Catherine Blake has scheduled oral argument for the Government's Motion to Dismiss the ACCG Customs case on February 14, 2011. It's fairly unusual these days for Courts to schedule oral argument on such preliminary motions, but, of course, this is not the typical case. Here, the Government contends that judicial review is not available because the decisions at issue are committed to the State Department's discretion. ACCG counters that the Court is entitled to construe whether the State Department and US Customs acted appropriately because the Court has original jurisdiction to hear the ACCG's constitutional claims and any discretion that was provided under the Convention on Cultural Property Implementation Act is not absolute. Judge Blake may rule from the bench after the argument or take the matter under advisement and rule later.
Addendum: The Court heard argument today, 2/14/11, for approximately one and one half hours. Judge Blake was obviously prepared for the hearing. We should receive a ruling in the next several months.