Plains All American Pipeline L v. Thomas Cook

OPINION OF THE COURT

FISHER, Circuit Judge.

All states have laws authorizing them to seize private property through escheat, “a procedure with ancient origins whereby a sovereign may acquire title to abandoned property if after a number of years no rightful owner appears.” Texas v. New Jersey, 379 U.S. 674, 675, 85 S.Ct. 626, 13 L.Ed.2d 596 (1965). But in recent years, state escheat laws have come under assault for being exploited to raise revenue rather than reunite abandoned property with its owners. Delaware’s Escheats, or Unclaimed Property, Law is no exception; as unclaimed property has…