Bankruptcy Law Commons^™

Too Much, Too Little, Or Just Right? Beyond The Perception (Or Reality) Of Law School Rigor In Teaching Undergraduate Copyright Law

Journal of Legal Studies in Business

No abstract provided.

A Reprieve From The Crushing Cost Of An Education: Why The Sixth Circuit Should Interpret The Bankruptcy Code To Allow Discharge Of Private Student Loans, Harlee P. Havens

Kentucky Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Trumping Tradition: Redefining The Family Farmer, Dalton Stanley

Kentucky Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Living Property, Joseph William Singer

Seattle University Law Review

The Supreme Court has increasingly defined property rights that are per se exempt from regulation in the absence of compensation, most recently in Cedar Point Nursery v. Hassid (2021) and Tyler v. Hennepin County (2023). The Court claims that it can identify property rights that are categorically protected from regulation by reference to history, tradition, and precedent. Yet this approach is oddly ahistorical; it is inconsistent with the fact that property law changed dramatically over U.S. history, as well as varying tremendously among the states. It is also inconsistent with the historical context of the Founding era. At that time, …

Table Of Contents

Seattle University Law Review

Table of Contents

The Roots Of Credit Inequality, Andrea Freeman

Seattle University Law Review

Debt oppression began before the United States became a country. Settlers enslaved Africans and Indigenous people, treating them as property that they could buy and sell for their economic and personal benefit. When enslavement became illegal, new economic systems and laws that included sharecropping, Black Codes, and Jim Crow kept Black people in servitude. Laws that prohibited enslaved people from owning property or selling goods to white people evolved into restrictions on Black people’s occupations and market participation, both formal and informal. When Black entrepreneurs overcame these obstacles and built wealth within Black business enclaves, white people enforced their racist …

“A Plain Denial”: Reclaiming Equal Protection In American Juvenile Law, Addie C. Rolnick, David S. Tanenhaus, Justin Iverson, Danielle L. Silvestri

Seattle University Law Review

Juvenile courts are based on the premise that children are different from adults and should therefore be treated differently. Children may be treated more informally by courts, punished for different purposes, and brought before the court for different behaviors. Since In re Gault, the Supreme Court has been clear that there are limits to how different juvenile courts can be. Juveniles are entitled to many of the same procedural protections as adult criminal defendants, although the Court has preserved some procedural differences where it has determined that their benefit is outweighed by the need to preserve the informality, flexibility, …

Mandating Fluoride: A Constitutional Exercise Of Police Power, Anita Jahangiri

Seattle University Law Review

This Note addresses the ongoing debate over fluoridation: the regulation of fluoride levels in public water systems. Extensive research indicates fluoridation, when regulated at the recommended concentration, is both safe and highly effective in preventing dental caries. Better known as cavities, dental caries is a preventable yet widespread health issue that disproportionately affects low-income populations. Reducing dental health disparities among economic classes is a pressing public health issue. Fluoridation is not merely a policy option, but a critical, proven tool to address such disparities and uphold the collective welfare of Washingtonians. This Note focuses on fluoridation as a public health …

Neurodiversity In The Courtroom: Expanding Jury Service Accessibility Beyond Physical Disability, Samantha L. Mabe

Seattle University Law Review

The Americans with Disabilities Act has required equal access to jury service for decades; however, efforts to accommodate jurors with disabilities have been slow to develop beyond some minor accommodations for physical disabilities. While neurodivergent people frequently struggle to navigate a world catered toward neurotypical people, jury service remains inaccessible for many neurodivergent people who need accommodations to attend trial and engage in jury deliberations. If courts and advocates do not consider how to develop accommodations to secure the service of neurodivergent jurors, they will miss out on the unique skillsets that neurodivergent people can bring to resolving disputes.

Disabled …

Redefining Section 230 Immunity, Lucas Dini

Seattle University Law Review

Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act has provided broad immunity to online platforms for third-party content which was the foundation for the internet's growth. However, the rise in the use of artificial intelligence (AI) to produce algorithms to curate content to users of online services has blurred the line between being a passive host of third party content and active editorial control. This Note examines the legal, policy, and constitutional implications of applying Section 230 immunity to platforms that use AI to curate and promote third-party content. This analysis argues that algorithmic promotion of third-party content constitutes a platform's …

Overcrowding The System: Rethinking Juvenile Justice In Washington State, Mckenna White

Seattle University Law Review

The recent crisis at Green Hill School highlights the detrimental consequences of severe overcrowding in Washington State’s Juvenile Rehabilitation system—a problem exacerbated by the implementation of the JR to 25 legislation. This Note argues that the juvenile rehabilitation system, which is currently struggling to manage a wide age range of offenders, necessitates a fundamental rethinking of juvenile justice practices. By examining neurological research indicating continued brain development into the mid-twenties, along with the high prevalence of trauma among justice-involved youth, this Note proposes the creation of a dedicated third system of care within the Department of Children, Youth, and Families …

Addressing The Root Of Housing Insecurity: Washington Should Divest From “Crime-Free” Housing Programs, Sarah Cerdena

Seattle University Law Review

Crime-Free Rental Housing Properties (CFRHPs) have proven to be an ineffective and inequitable approach to public safety. Often, tenants in these properties are evicted—at times, extrajudicially—as a result of conduct that does not rise to violations of their lease provisions, much less criminal behavior. By placing extraordinary power in the hands of local law enforcement to carry out these ordinances, CFRHPs predictably pose significant harm to Black and Latinx communities, survivors of domestic violence, disabled tenants, and low-income tenants generally. Recently, the Washington State Supreme Court grappled with the tensions arising between CFRHPs and the enforcement of Washington landlord-tenant law. …

Volume 49 Masthead

Seattle University Law Review

Volume 49 Masthead

Esg Investing Breaches Erisa Fiduciary Duties? A Closer Look At Spence V. American Airlines, Inc., Eric Chin-Ru Chang

Seattle University Law Review

In Spence v. American Airlines, Inc., the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas found that American Airlines breached its fiduciary duties due to BlackRock’s ESG investing practices. Contrary to some reports suggesting that the ruling prohibits ESG investing under ERISA, a closer look at the ruling shows that the court only targeted American Airlines’ failure to manage conflicts of interest appropriately, rather than the legality of ESG investing itself. In light of the intensifying ESG backlash in the United States, this Article cautions against further restrictive measures on ESG investing. Such measures would exacerbate the widening …

Judging Bankruptcy Without Distress, Jack Zarin-Rosenfeld

University of Cincinnati Law Review

In Harrington v. Purdue Pharma, the United States Supreme Court rejected the bankruptcy plan of OxyContin producer Purdue Pharma, which purported to settle claims against both Purdue (the bankruptcy debtor) and Purdue’s individual owners and managers, all members of the Sackler family who had not themselves filed for bankruptcy (the Sackler Release). Concluding that the United States Bankruptcy Code does not authorize settlement of claims against non-debtors without claimant consent, the Harrington Court appeared set to stem the tide of “bankruptcy without distress,” a flourishing practice in which solvent non-debtors (like the Sacklers) would settle their liabilities within the …

Crypto In The Courtroom: A Legislative Framework For Managing Crypto Assets In Bankruptcy, Katelyn E. Barker

University of Miami Law Review

The rapid rise and subsequent collapse of the cryptocurrency market exposed a critical shortcoming of bankruptcy law: the absence of clear guidelines for the treatment of crypto assets. The Bankruptcy Code—which predates the invention of crypto—fails to account for the unique complexities of crypto assets. Although several crypto bills have been introduced, they fall short of adequately confronting the complex and evolving challenges of crypto bankruptcies. The lack of guidance has forced courts to make consequential decisions with no clear direction, leading to inconsistent outcomes in areas such as crypto asset ownership, valuation, and customer protections.

This Note examines bankruptcy …

Relief And Its Costs: The Need For A Congressional Response To The Aftermath Of Harrington V. Purdue Pharma, Emma Skeen

William & Mary Law Review

This Note explores the fallout of the Harrington v. Purdue Pharma decision and the uncertainty it lends to the future of bankruptcy plans and third-party releases. Specifically, it proposes potential congressional solutions that can pave a path forward for parties to seek relief for the harms they have suffered under the actions of corporations and their leaders. Part I provides background information on the use of nonconsensual third-party releases in bankruptcy cases and their controversial nature. Part II analyzes the Supreme Court’s settling of that controversy in Harrington and the bases that it relied on in doing so. Part III …

Vestigial Fiscal Constitutions, Joe Schomberg

St. John's Law Review

(Excerpt)

This Article examines the history and original intent of fiscal constitutions in the United States, providing helpful context for their usefulness today. It argues that, due to the rigidity of states’ fiscal constitutions, they are ultimately ineffective at preventing state and local governments from incurring more and more debt. Ultimately, it suggests that the weakness of state fiscal constitutions is a result of their functionality being overtaken by increased efficiencies in the capital markets and Tiebout-Tullock markets. Our state fiscal constitutions have suffered the same fate as our wisdom teeth or appendixes—they have become less useful and less relied …

Chapter 9 Bankruptcy: The Solution That Causes Problems, Peter C. Alexander

Brooklyn Journal of Corporate, Financial & Commercial Law

There is a little-known form of bankruptcy called a “Chapter 9,” reserved for insolvent cities, villages, and other municipalities. Occasionally, one reads about a city or a county that has filed for Chapter 9 relief, like Detroit, Michigan, or Orange County, California; however, it is very hard to file a Chapter 9 case, in part, because existing law requires a municipality to obtain permission from its home state before it can file for relief in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court. An additional constraint is that the only option municipalities have when seeking bankruptcy relief is to file a Chapter 9 because …

Where Singapore Meets Asean: Shaping Insolvency Reform For Micro And Small Enterprises, Lovein Leying Sui

Singapore Law Journal (Lexicon)

Given the economic dependence on micro and small enterprises (MSEs) in the ASEAN region, the MSE insolvency regime is of paramount regional importance. Evidence indicates that the ASEAN region has prioritised the improvement of such a regime, especially after the financial instability following the COVID-19 pandemic. This paper explores how trends in ASEAN MSE insolvency can inform Singapore’s insolvency reforms to improve MSE access and efficiency, while also considering broader implications for the region.