UNITED STATES V. KRAS
409 U.S. 434 (1973)
NATURE OF THE CASE: This was a dispute over fees due for a voluntary bankruptcy.
FACTS: Kras (P) was an indigent and petitioned to the bankruptcy court. The fees required
under the Bankruptcy Act totaled $50. The Act allows the fees to be paid in installments
within a six-month period that may be extended another three months. P challenged the
payment of required fees. P's situation was heart rendering and involved his wife, two
children, his mother, and his mother's six-year old daughter. P's younger child suffered
from cystic fibrosis. P had been unemployed since 1969. The entire household had $366
dollars to live on of which $102 was for rent. P sought discharge of $6,428.69 in total
indebtedness. The District Court went on to hold, that the prescribed fees, payment of which
was required as a condition precedent to discharge, served to deny P 'his Fifth Amendment
right of due process, including equal protection.' It held that a discharge in bankruptcy
was a 'fundamental interest' that could be denied only when a 'compelling government
interest' was demonstrated (Boddie). The Government stresses the differences between divorce
(with which Boddie was concerned) and bankruptcy, and claims that Boddie is not controlling,
and that the fee requirements constitute a reasonable exercise of Congress' plenary power
over bankruptcy.
ISSUE:
RULE OF LAW:
HOLDING AND DECISION:
LEGAL ANALYSIS:
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