[benjulmag]

The issue here isn't blaming an institution for the theft of an item or rewarding the theft. The issue pertains to an institution learning of the whereabouts of a stolen item, yet doing nothing. In example you cite, suppose you were the buyer of that Walter Johnson baseball? When you bought it you had no reason whatsoever to believe it was stolen. And suppose twenty years later, when the auction house that sold it to you is long out of business, you are asked by the HOF to return it and bear the complete loss for the money you spent on it. Won't you be a little aggrieved if you learned that at the time you originally bought the ball the HOF knew of the sale, knew the item was stolen from them, knew you had it for those twenty years AND didn't inform you that the ball was stolen or otherwise take action to assert claim to the ball? I think a lot of people in that situation would be very pissed and question the fairness of any system that does not recognize them as the owner of the ball at that twenty-year point.