Thursday, June 18, 1998

Zapruder film belongs to our national legacy

History happening on camera is commonplace now, but it was not on Nov. 22, 1963, when President Kennedy was assassinated.

By happenstance, a home movie hobbyist, Abraham Zapruder, captured the murder on film, 26 seconds when our history was suddenly, brutally altered. The images are indelible -- the open limousine, the slumping president, the panicked first lady, the scrambling Secret Service agent -- and among the century's best known.

The film is in the National Archives, but ownership and copyright remain with the Zapruder family. The Assassination Records Review Board, a federal panel with oversight over the evidence in the killing, is going out of existence this year, and one of its remaining duties is to see the Zapruder film becomes government property and the family is fairly compensated.

The last point is where the issue becomes sticky. The Justice Department is reportedly offering $750,000, with hints it might go as high as $3 million. Private valuations have said the film, if open to bids, might bring anywhere from $22 million to $70 million. Those sums may sound ludicrous, but two years ago JFK's walnut cigar box was auctioned off for $574,000.

The Zapruders say they want the government to have the film -- for $18.5 million. The haggling may seem mercenary and unseemly, but the simple fact is, the film belongs to the Zapruder heirs, and the Fifth Amendment says the owners of private property taken for public use shall receive "just compensation."

The delay seems to combine government dithering with the Justice Department's fear it will take a beating in Congress if it pays a price the lawmakers consider exorbitant. The government has well-tried mechanisms -- negotiations, arbitration, even, if necessary, litigation -- for settling compensation claims. It should use them. And Congress should pledge not to second-guess.

As much as a battlefield or a historic building, these 465 frames should be a permanent part of the American legacy.