No. 23-489

Office of the United States Trustee v. USA Sales, Inc., dba Statewide Distributors, a California Corporation

Lower Court: Ninth Circuit
Docketed: 2023-11-08
Status: GVR
Type: Paid
Response RequestedResponse WaivedRelisted (3) Experienced Counsel
Tags: administrative-law bankruptcy-administrators bankruptcy-fees bankruptcy-law bankruptcy-procedure bankruptcy-trustees constitutional-uniformity judicial-remedy retrospective-refunds statutory-interpretation
Key Terms:
DueProcess Takings Securities JusticiabilityDoctri
Latest Conference: 2024-06-20 (distributed 3 times)
Question Presented (AI Summary)

Whether the appropriate remedy for the constitutional uniformity violation found by this Court in Siegel, supra, is to require the United States Trustee to grant retrospective refunds of the increased fees paid by debtors in United States Trustee districts during the period of disuniformity, or is instead either to deem sufficient the prospective remedy adopted by Congress or to require the collection of additional fees from a much smaller number of debtors in Bankruptcy Administrator districts

Question Presented (OCR Extract)

QUESTION PRESENTED Section 1004(a) of the Bankruptcy Judgeship Act of 2017, Pub. L. No. 115-72, Div. B, 131 Stat. 1232 (28 U.S.C. 1930(a)(6)(B) (2018)), amended the schedule of quarterly fees payable to the United States Trustee in certain pending bankruptcy cases. In Siegel v. Fitzgerald, 142 S. Ct. 1770 (2022), this Court held that that provision contravened Congress’s constitutional authority to “establish * * * uniform Laws on the subject of Bankruptcies,” U.S. Const. Art. I, § 8, Cl. 4, because it was initially applied only in the 88 federal judicial districts that have United States Trustees but not in the 6 districts that have Bankruptcy Administrators. This Court left open the question of “the appropriate remedy” for the violation. Siegel, 142 S. Ct. at 1783. The question presented in this case is: Whether the appropriate remedy for the constitutional uniformity violation found by this Court in Siegel, supra, is to require the United States Trustee to grant retrospective refunds of the increased fees paid by debtors in United States Trustee districts during the period of disuniformity, or is instead either to deem sufficient the prospective remedy adopted by Congress or to require the collection of additional fees from a much smaller number of debtors in Bankruptcy Administrator districts. (I)

Docket Entries

2024-07-26
Judgment Issued.
2024-06-24
Petition GRANTED. Judgment VACATED and case REMANDED for further consideration in light of <i>United States Trustee</i> v. <i>John Q. Hammons Fall 2006, LLC</i>, 602 U. S. ___ (2024).
2024-06-17
DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 6/20/2024.
2024-01-31
DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 2/16/2024.
2024-01-11
Memorandum of respondent USA Sales, Inc., d/b/a Statewide Distributors filed.
2023-12-12
Response Requested. (Due January 11, 2024)
2023-12-06
DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 1/5/2024.
2023-11-29
Waiver of right of respondent USA Sales, Inc., d/b/a Statewide Distributors to respond filed.
2023-11-08
Petition for a writ of certiorari filed. (Response due December 8, 2023)

Attorneys

Office of the United States Trustee
Elizabeth B. PrelogarSolicitor General, Petitioner
USA Sales, Inc., d/b/a Statewide Distributors
A. Lavar TaylorTaylor Nelson Amitrano LLP, Respondent