Law Commons^™

Making Sense Of The Prejudgment Seizure Cases, Richard Kay, Harold M. Lubin

Faculty Articles and Papers

The purpose of this article is to examine critically four recent Supreme Court cases on prejudgment seizure, Sniadach v. Family Finance Corp., Fuentes v. Shevin, Mitchell v. W. T. Grant Co., and North Georgia Finishing, Inc. v. Di-Chem, Inc. These cases have been cited as an arch-example of inconsistency, even irrationality, in constitutional doctrine. Members of the Supreme Court and numerous scholars have expressed chagrin at the apparent irresponsible obscurity at this difficult intersection of creditors' remedies and constitutional rights. We believe, however, that the search for reasonable and rational constitutional standards is not a hopeless …