Cite as: 514 U. S. 300 (1995)
Stevens, J., dissenting
judge has jurisdiction to enter any conceivable order that a party might request simply because § 105(a) authorizes some injunctions or because the request was first made in a pending Title 11 case. Cf. 2 Collier ¶ 105.01[1], at 105-3 (Section 105 "is not an independent source of jurisdiction, but rather it grants the courts flexibility to issue orders which preserve and protect their jurisdiction"). The mere filing of a motion for a § 105 injunction to enjoin a proceeding in another forum cannot be a jurisdictional bootstrap enabling a bankruptcy judge to exercise jurisdiction that would not otherwise exist.
IV
Even if I believed that the Bankruptcy Judge had jurisdiction to issue his injunction, I would still affirm the Court of Appeals because in my view the Bankruptcy Judge's injunction has only a "frivolous pretense to validity."
In 1898, Congress codified the bankruptcy laws. Under the 1898 Bankruptcy Act, most bankruptcy proceedings were conducted by "referees" who resolved controversies involving property in the actual or constructive possession of the court, as well as certain disputes involving property in the possession of third parties. In § 2(a)(15) of the 1898 Act, Congress vested in bankruptcy courts the power to:
"[M]ake such orders, issue such process, and enter such judgments in addition to those specifically provided for as may be necessary for the enforcement of the provisions of this Act." Act of July 1, 1898, 30 Stat. 546.
In 1938, Congress clarified both the powers and the limitations on the injunctive authority of referees in bankruptcy by adding to the end of § 2(a)(15), "Provided, however, That an injunction to restrain a court may be issued by the judge only." 52 Stat. 843 (emphasis in original).
In 1978, through the Bankruptcy Reform Act, Congress significantly revised the Bankruptcy Code and the role of
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