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[[underlined]] Litigation Report [[/underlined]]

The Secretary submitted the following report:

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New Cases

[[underlined]]Santoro[[/underlined]] v. [[underlined]]United States[[/underlined]]

In this suit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia in October 1979, plaintiff seeks damages of $500,000 for personal injuries sustained in a fall at the National Zoological Park in May 1977. The suit is based on a denial of a federal tort claim. The Department of Justice is handling the defense of the suit.

[[underlined]] Cases Previously Reported [[/underlined]]

1. Petition of the United States on behalf and for the benefit of the 
Smithsonian Institution, Trustee
[[line]]

A petition requesting the court to construe certain provisions of the gift instrument applicable to the J. Seward Johnson Fund was filed by the Department of Justice in February 1977. The Harbor Branch Foundation, Inc., and Mr. J. Seward Johnson were permitted to intervene as interested parties and to file a response to the petition of the United States. Subsequently, the intervenors were permitted by the court to amend their original response to include allegations that the Smithsonian failed to exercise adequate control over the trust funds, that expenditures from trust funds were made by the Smithsonian in contravention of the terms of the gift, and that the Smithsonian is hostile to the alleged purposes of the trust. Trial on the issues has been concluded and post-trial briefs have been submitted and argued. A decision by the court is still pending.

2. [[underlined]]Crowley[[/underlined]] v. [[underlined]]Smithsonian Institution[[/underlined]]

This action, filed in April 1978 in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, alleges that references to "evolution" in the exhibits of the National Museum of Natural History violate the "establishment of religion" clause of the First Amendment of the Constitution. Plaintiffs, two of whom are Baptist ministers, seek to enjoin the Smithsonian from in any manner depicting the theories of evolution or expending appropriated funds therefor, or, in the alternative, to compel the Smithsonian to expend "creation/design" theory based on the Book of Genesis. The motion to dismiss filed on behalf of the Smithsonian was granted in December 1978. Plaintiffs have appealed the adverse decision to the U.S. Court of Appeals. Oral argument is set for January 8, 1980.