The Supreme Court this morning upheld a federal law that bars "debt relief agencies" including lawyers from advising clients to incur more debt for filing for bankruptcy. In Milavetz, Gallop & Milavetz v. United States, an Edina, Minnesota law firm asserted that lawyers should not be covered by the law, and the district court ruled that the law was unconstitutional as applied to the firm.
The Court, in a decision authored by Justice Sonia Sotomayor, ruled that lawyers are included in the definition of debt relief agencies, and that the requirements of the law don't run afoul of the First Amendment. Justices Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas wrote separate concurrences.
The justices also granted review in a controversial First Amendment case from Maryland stemming from the death in 2006 of Marine Lance Cpl. Matthew Snyder in combat in Iraq. A Kansas group led by Fred Phelps Sr. staged a protest at Snyder's Westminster, Md. funeral that included antiwar and anti-gay signs. Snyder's family later sued for defamation and intentional infliction of emotional distress, eventually winning a jury award of more than $10 million. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit reversed, and the case before the high court, Snyder v. Phelps, challenges the reversal and raises First Amendment issues.
More on today's Supreme Court action later today here and at nlj.com.
Comments