Congress created the United States Trustee Program in the 1980s to transfer administrative functions of the bankruptcy courts to the executive branch. When it did so, Alabama and North Carolina were provided exemptions, remaining under the bankruptcy administrator program instead. Chapter 11 debtors in Trustee Program courts pay quarterly fees throughout the duration of their case, while debtors in administrator states were exempt until 2001, when the Judicial Conference of the United States issued a standing order making the fees the same rates in both systems. In 2017, the Trustee Fund faced a shortfall in funds, so Congress passed the Bankruptcy Judgeship Act of 2017, increasing fees dramatically in Trustee Program districts. The Judicial Conference extended the hike to administrator program districts, but only for new cases. Circuit City filed for bankruptcy in 2008, in a Trustee Program district, and saw its fees dramatically increase due to the hike. It challenged the increase as violating the uniformity requirement of the United States Constitution's Bankruptcy Clause. The bankruptcy court agreed, but the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit reversed, over the dissent of Judge A. Marvin Quattlebaum Jr.[1]
Supreme Courtedit
Certiorari was granted in the case on January 10, 2022. Oral arguments were held on April 18, 2022. On June 6, 2022, the Supreme Court issued a unanimous opinion reversing the Fourth Circuit as to the constitutionality of the fee increase, while remanding for consideration of what the remedy should be.
Referencesedit
^Howe, Amy (January 10, 2022). "Justices add new cases on bankruptcy, workers' comp, and relief from final judgments". SCOTUSblog. Retrieved June 5, 2022.
External linksedit
Text of Siegel v. Fitzgerald, 596U.S. ___ (2022) is available from:JustiaOyez (oral argument audio)Supreme Court (slip opinion)
siegel, fitzgerald, 2022, united, states, supreme, court, case, related, united, states, bankruptcy, courts, supreme, court, united, statesargued, april, 2022decided, june, 2022full, case, namealfred, siegel, trustee, circuit, city, stores, liquidating, trust,. Siegel v Fitzgerald 596 U S 2022 was a United States Supreme Court case related to the United States bankruptcy courts Siegel v FitzgeraldSupreme Court of the United StatesArgued April 18 2022Decided June 6 2022Full case nameAlfred H Siegel Trustee of the Circuit City Stores Inc Liquidating Trust v John P Fitzgerald III Acting United States Trustee for Region 4Docket no 21 441Citations596 U S more ArgumentOral argumentCourt membershipChief Justice John Roberts Associate Justices Clarence Thomas Stephen Breyer Samuel Alito Sonia Sotomayor Elena Kagan Neil Gorsuch Brett Kavanaugh Amy Coney BarrettCase opinionMajoritySotomayor joined by unanimousLaws appliedBankruptcy Judgeship Act of 2017 Contents 1 Background 2 Supreme Court 3 References 4 External linksBackground editCongress created the United States Trustee Program in the 1980s to transfer administrative functions of the bankruptcy courts to the executive branch When it did so Alabama and North Carolina were provided exemptions remaining under the bankruptcy administrator program instead Chapter 11 debtors in Trustee Program courts pay quarterly fees throughout the duration of their case while debtors in administrator states were exempt until 2001 when the Judicial Conference of the United States issued a standing order making the fees the same rates in both systems In 2017 the Trustee Fund faced a shortfall in funds so Congress passed the Bankruptcy Judgeship Act of 2017 increasing fees dramatically in Trustee Program districts The Judicial Conference extended the hike to administrator program districts but only for new cases Circuit City filed for bankruptcy in 2008 in a Trustee Program district and saw its fees dramatically increase due to the hike It challenged the increase as violating the uniformity requirement of the United States Constitution s Bankruptcy Clause The bankruptcy court agreed but the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit reversed over the dissent of Judge A Marvin Quattlebaum Jr 1 Supreme Court editCertiorari was granted in the case on January 10 2022 Oral arguments were held on April 18 2022 On June 6 2022 the Supreme Court issued a unanimous opinion reversing the Fourth Circuit as to the constitutionality of the fee increase while remanding for consideration of what the remedy should be References edit Howe Amy January 10 2022 Justices add new cases on bankruptcy workers comp and relief from final judgments SCOTUSblog Retrieved June 5 2022 External links editText of Siegel v Fitzgerald 596 U S 2022 is available from Justia Oyez oral argument audio Supreme Court slip opinion nbsp This article related to the Supreme Court of the United States is a stub You can help Wikipedia by expanding it vte Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Siegel v Fitzgerald amp oldid 1177338985, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
