Bankruptcy and the Constitution

The following article is excerpted from a chapter in Blessings of Liberty - The Constitution and the Practice of Law, published in 1988 by the American Law Institute, American Bar Association Committee on Continuing Professional Education; reprinted by permission. Treatises and casebooks on constitutional law do not devote much attention to bankruptcy. This scholarly neglect is reciprocated in treatises and casebooks on bankruptcy, which contain only limited references to constitutional aspects of the subject. The role of bankruptcy law in our national economy and social policy is nevertheless of greater significance than it is in any other country in the world.

The constitutional status of bankruptcy legislation and its administration is basic to the influential part it plays in our national life.