Second Circuit denies bid to keep iconic 'Wizard of Oz' dress off auction block

MANHATTAN (CN) — A Second Circuit panel declined Thursday to further delay the auction of Judy Garland’s iconic blue and white dress from “The Wizard of Oz,” finding that a retired Chicago public school teacher does not have standing to claim ownership of the dress.

Barbara Hartke sued the Catholic University of America in 2022 claiming the school was trying to auction off the famous gingham dress that belonged to her uncle, the late Reverend Gilbert Hartke, a longtime professor at the university. She managed to temporarily block the auction until late 2023, when her complaint was tossed by a federal judge in the Southern District of New York.

The Second Circuit panel agreed with the lower court’s decision, finding that Hartke lacks standing to assert ownership over the dress, which was expected to sell for $800,000 to $1.2 million at auction, because she wasn’t the executor of her uncle’s estate. During oral arguments Monday, Hartke pointed out that she was currently petitioning the D.C. probate court to become the personal representative of her uncle’s estate. She added that, because the executorship hadn’t been finalized, the appeals court had the jurisdiction to declare ownership over the dress.

But the panel didn’t agree and found that the Second Circuit lacked jurisdiction to further delay the auction because all parties associated with the complaint are considered D.C. citizens.

“It is undisputed that Father Hartke was a citizen of the District of Columbia at the time of his death,” the panel said in its decision. “Therefore, any individual seeking to bring claims on behalf of his estate would likewise be deemed a D.C. citizen.”

The panel also rejected Hartke’s argument that the court didn’t provide her “reasonable time” to be appointed her uncle’s executor in D.C. probate court. According to the panel, Hartke had ample time to seek relief in the D.C. probate court but, even if she had been appointed her uncle’s executor by now, the Second Circuit still would not be able to grant her relief because she would be considered a D.C. citizen.

“Put simply, because the estate and CUA are both citizens of the District of Columbia, any amendment reflecting plaintiff’s appointment as the estate’s representative would be futile in curing the lack of complete diversity among the parties,” the panel said.

After Gilbert Hartke died in 1986, the dress went missing for 35 years until it turned up at the Catholic University of America during a 2021 theater renovation. The school claims that Gilbert vowed to never accept gifts in a personal capacity, as a Dominican priest, and the dress couldn’t be a part of his estate as a result.

But his niece says he often received gifts throughout his tenure as a priest including gold engraved bracelets and gold signet rings which demonstrated the “sentimental value and testament to the connections he formed throughout his life.”

Hartke’s attorney Anthony Scordo said the decision failed to address Hartke’s claims on its merits and that there is no doubt the dress belongs to her.

“There’s really no legitimate claim by either the university or the auction house,” Scordo said in an interview.

Attorneys for the university did not respond to a request for comment.

U.S. Circuit Judge Richard Sullivan, a Donald Trump appointee, and U.S. Circuit Judge Alison Nathan and U.S. Circuit Judge Ramon Reyes, Joe Biden appointees, participated in the decision.

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