Supreme Court to hear separation of powers, bankruptcy cases News
Supreme Court to hear separation of powers, bankruptcy cases

The US Supreme Court [official website] granted certiorari[order list, PDF] in Patchak v. Zinke and Merit Management v. FTI Consulting [dockets] on Monday. In Patchak, the court will decide if Section 2(b) of the Gun Lake Trust Land Reaffirmation Act [text] violates the separation of powers created in the US Constitution by calling on federal courts to drop cases related to certain provisions of the act. Patchak, petitioner in the case, argues [reply brief, PDF] that the act violates separation of power principles by excluding a particular class of cases from the jurisdiction of the federal courts through legislation. Ryan Zinke [official profile], in his capacity as Secretary of the Interior, responds [brief in opposition, PDF] that there is no constitutional violation because

Under the Constitution, Congress has broad power “to define and limit the jurisdiction of the inferior courts of the United States” … That power includes the authority to withdraw jurisdiction previously given, and to subject pending cases to the new jurisdictional limitation.

In Merit, the court will decide if the safe harbor provision [LII] of the Bankruptcy Code permits a transfer made by or to a financial institution. Petitioner FTI Consulting argues [reply brief, PDF] that the court should grant review so that debtors, trustees and creditors may organize their affairs and litigation around a uniform interpretation of the safe harbor provision. Respondent Merit Management Group, argues [brief in opposition, PDF] that the language in the provision is vague, leading to district courts disagreeing on whether the provision prohibits the avoidance of a settlement payment made in connection with a securities contract where neither the debtor nor the transferee is a financial institution.