Law Commons^™

Bankruptcy Policy: Toward A Moral Justification For Financial Rehabilitation For The Consumer Debtor, Richard E. Flint

Faculty Articles

The central justification for the debtor financial relief provisions of the Bankruptcy Code is founded in a natural law theory of morality. The law reflects reason and conscience, and those fundamental principles of fairness and humanitarianism form the moral dimension of the debtor relief provisions of the Bankruptcy Code. Historically, America has recognized an objective moral dimension to the bankruptcy process, and Congress has continually enacted legislation implementing its fresh start policy, which strives to obtain goals that mirror that moral fiber.

This fiber is composed of two separate but mutually dependent strands of values, intertwined into a coherent plan …