The Supreme Court, the Solicitor General, and Bankruptcy: BFP v. Resolution Trust Corporation

Ronald Mann, The University of Texas

Abstract

Using information from Justice Blackmun's files and the case, and a dataset matching Supreme Court bankruptcy decisions with information about participation by the Solicitor General, the paper argues that the SG's participation in secured creditor disputes in the mid-1990's is a big part of the explanation of this counter-textual case. The paper introduces a broader theory of bankruptcy interpretation that I call "bankruptcy skepticism," rejecting claims that bankruptcy interpretation by the Supreme Court has been literalist.