Supreme Court Report

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Peggy Kirton, et al. v. Valley Health System, et al.

Paid petition · United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, No. 15-60023 · judgment September 12, 2017


Certiorari denied · May 29, 2018
Pre-decision estimate: 3% cert probability

Before the decision, well below the 4.1% base rate, with no standout signals pointing toward a grant.

Question presented

• Whether a Bankruptcy Court cam declare a class unimpaired and, in a subsequent paragraph, impair the class of pensioners. • Whether the Bankruptcy Court lacks jurisdiction over these unimpaired creditors in this matter and is equitably stopped from acting otherwise. • If the pensioners were not unimpaired, as promised, they possessed voting rights which they were denied which voids the REORGANIZATION PLAN. • If the pensioners were impaired they possessed voting rights which they were denied. • Whether an Art. II Judge can exercise the duties of the Art. III judiciary or a California Superior Court absent specific Bankruptcy Court jurisdiction not present here. • Whether in a Chapter 9 bankruptcy the taking imposed in this matter, by the fiction of the class being unimpaired, resulted in an unconstitutional taking of a constitutionally protected property interest in their fully vested pension benefits without just compensation. • Whether the Bankruptcy Court allowed the payment of other debts without the payment of the substantially larger class deemed unimpaired when there are no funds provided for such purposes and/or by allowing the expenditure of the funds due to the unimpaired class which totally divested the class of any recovery whatsoever. • Whether once the debtor was dismissed from the mandate action any claimed jurisdiction failed.

Counsel of record

For petitioner
Gregory G. Petersen
Gregory G. Petersen, A Law Corporation

For respondent
Robert E. Hess
Hinshaw & Culbertson, LLP

Case

Conference history
Distributed for 1 conference

Proceedings

  1. May 29 2018
    Petition DENIED.
  2. May 08 2018
    DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 5/24/2018.
  3. Apr 23 2018
    Waiver of right of respondent Metropolitan Life Insurance Company to respond filed.
  4. Apr 19 2018
    Waiver of right of respondents Valley Health System, et al. to respond filed.
  5. Jan 16 2018
    Petition for a writ of certiorari filed. (Response due May 18, 2018)