Details on today’s orders and opinions
on May 29, 2012 at 11:05 am
This morning the Court granted one new case, and issued one summary reversal and one opinion in an argued case.
The Court did not call for the views of the Solicitor General in any new cases. The full order list is here.
In the newly granted case, Marx v. General Revenue Corp., the Court will consider whether a prevailing defendant in a Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) case may be awarded costs for a lawsuit that was not “brought in bad faith and for the purpose of harassment.”
The Court summarily reversed the decision of the Third Circuit in Coleman v. Johnson. In a per curiam opinion, the Court held that under Jackson v. Virginia the evidence used to convict Lorenzo Johnson as an accomplice and co-conspirator in the murder of Tarja Williams was not nearly sparse enough to sustain a due process challenge.
Justice Scalia announced the opinion for a unanimous Court (with Justice Kennedy not participating) in RadLAX Gateway Hotel, LLC v. Amalgamated Bank. The Court affirmed the Seventh Circuit’s holding that debtors may not obtain confirmation of a Chapter 11 bankruptcy “cramdown” plan that proposes to sell substantially all of the debtors’ property at an auction, free and clear of the Bank’s lien, using the sale proceeds to repay the Bank, but that does not permit the Bank to credit-bid at the sale.
