Central Virginia Community College, et al. v. Bernard Katz, Liquidating Supervisor for Wallace's Bookstores, Inc. (546 U.S. 356)
U.S. Supreme Court · decided January 23, 2006 · Supreme Court Database (Spaeth)
- Citation
- 546 U.S. 356 · 126 S. Ct. 990
- Decided
- January 23, 2006
- Term
- October Term 2005
- Vote
- 5–4
- Majority author
- Justice Stevens
- Issue area
- Federalism
- Disposition
- Affirmed
- Outcome
- Petitioning party lost
- Ideological direction
- Liberal
Opinion excerpt
Justice Stevens delivered the opinion of the Court. Article I, § 8, cl. 4, of the Constitution provides that Congress shall have the power to establish “uniform Laws on the subject of Bankruptcies throughout the United States.” In Tennessee Student Assistance Corporation v. Hood, 541 U. S. 440 (2004), we granted certiorari to determine whether this Clause gives Congress the authority to abrogate States’ immunity from private suits. See id., at 443. Without reaching that question, we upheld the application of the Bankruptcy Code to proceedings initiated by a debtor against a state agency to determine the dischargeability of a student loan debt. See id., at 451. In this case we consider whether a proceeding initiated by a bankruptcy trustee to set aside preferential transfers by the debtor to state agencies is barred by sovereign immunity. Relying in part on our reasoning in Hood, we reject the sovereign immunity defense advanced by the state agencies. I Petitioners are Virginia institutions of higher education that are considered “arm[s] of the State” entitled to sovereign immunity. See, e. g., Alden v. Maine, 527 U. S. 706, 756 (1999) (observing that only arms of the State can assert the State’s immunity). Wallace’s Bookstores, Inc., did business with petitioners before it filed a petition for relief under chapter 11 of the Bankruptcy Code, 11 U. S. C. § 101 et seq. (2000 ed.…
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