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Race Matters In Bankruptcy Reform, A. Mechele Dickerson

Missouri Law Review

On April 20, 2005, the Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act of ("BAPCPA") was signed into law and became fully effective for cases filed on or after October 17, 2005. 4 After considering bankruptcy reform for almost a decade, Congress ultimately concluded that some debtors were abusing bankruptcy laws by, among other things, discharging debts they had the means to pay. To curb this perceived abuse, Congress decided to radically overhaul the consumer provisions of the Code by generally making it harder for an opportunistic or "Abusive Debtor" to discharge his debts. Given the sweeping nature of these changes, …