Celotex Corp. v. Edwards, 514 U.S. 300, 23 (1995)

Page:   Index   Previous  16  17  18  19  20  21  22  23  24  25  26  27  28  29  30  Next

322

CELOTEX CORP. v. EDWARDS

Stevens, J., dissenting

district court has the power to enter "any final order or judgment." 8

In my view, the distinction between the jurisdiction to "hear and determine" core proceedings on the one hand and the jurisdiction only to "hear" related proceedings on the other hand is critical, if not dispositive. I believe that the jurisdiction to hear (and yet not to determine) a case under § 157(c)(1) provides insufficient jurisdiction to a bankruptcy judge to permit him to issue a binding injunction that prevents an Article III court from exercising its conceded jurisdiction over the case.9 The unambiguous text of § 157(c)(1)

8 The district court may enter judgment only after de novo review of the bankruptcy judge's recommendation with respect to any matters to which one of the parties has raised a timely objection. See 28 U. S. C. § 157(c)(1).

9 It should be noted that the Bankruptcy Judge's order cannot be upheld on the ground that it purported to enjoin only the Edwards and thus did not enjoin directly the Article III court. First, the Bankruptcy Judge's orders cannot be interpreted so narrowly. The October 17 order enjoined, inter alia, "all Entities" from "commencing or continuing any judicial, administrative or other proceeding involving any of the Debtors." App. to Pet. for Cert. A-28. In my view, the word "entities" includes courts. Indeed, the Bankruptcy Judge's order tracks § 362(a)'s automatic stay provisions, which provide, in part, that the automatic stay is applicable "to all entities" and which enjoin "the commencement or continuation . . . of a judicial, administrative, or other action or proceeding against the debtor." 11 U. S. C. § 362(a)(1). The Courts of Appeals have uniformly held that "entities," as used in § 362, include courts. See, e. g., Maritime Electric Co., 959 F. 2d 1194, 1206 (CA3 1991) ("§ 362's stay is mandatory and 'applicable to all entities', including state and federal courts"); Pope v. Manville Forest Products Corp., 778 F. 2d 238, 239 (CA5 1985) ("just the entry of an order of dismissal, even if entered sua sponte, constitutes a judicial act toward the disposition of the case and hence may be construed as a 'continuation' of a judicial proceeding"); Ellis v. Consolidated Diesel Electric Corp., 894 F. 2d 371, 372-373 (CA10 1990) (District Court's entry of summary judgment violated § 362(a)'s automatic stay); see also Maritime Electric Co., 959 F. 2d, at 1206 (collecting cases). Cf. 2 Collier ¶ 101.15, at 101-62 to 101-63 (" 'Entity' is the broadest of all definitions which relate to bodies or units").

More importantly, though the Bankruptcy Judge's June 13 order enjoins " 'the judgment creditor,' " In re Celotex Corp., 128 B. R. 478, 485

Page:   Index   Previous  16  17  18  19  20  21  22  23  24  25  26  27  28  29  30  Next

Last modified: October 4, 2007