{"ID":62632,"name":"Puerto Rico v. Franklin California Tax-Free Trust","href":"https:\/\/api.oyez.org\/cases\/2015\/15-233","view_count":0,"docket_number":"15-233","additional_docket_numbers":["15-255"],"manner_of_jurisdiction":"Writ of \u003Ci\u003Ecertiorari\u003C\/i\u003E","first_party":"Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, et al.","second_party":"Franklin California Tax-Free Trust, et al.","timeline":[{"event":"Granted","dates":[1449208800],"href":"https:\/\/api.oyez.org\/case_timeline\/case_timeline\/53346"},{"event":"Argued","dates":[1458622800],"href":"https:\/\/api.oyez.org\/case_timeline\/case_timeline\/53414"},{"event":"Decided","dates":[1465794000],"href":"https:\/\/api.oyez.org\/case_timeline\/case_timeline\/53765"}],"lower_court":{"ID":6,"name":"United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit","href":"https:\/\/api.oyez.org\/taxonomy\/term\/6"},"facts_of_the_case":"\u003Cp\u003EUnlike states, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico may not authorize its municipalities, including utilities, to declare bankruptcy and seek relief under Chapter 9 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code. In June 2014, Puerto Rico enacted the Puerto Rico Public Corporation Debt Enforcement and Recovery Act (Recovery Act), which expressly provided different protections for creditors than Chapter 9 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe plaintiffs in this case are a group of investors who collectively hold nearly two billion dollars in bonds issued by one of Puerto Rico\u2019s public utilities, the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority (PREPA), which could potentially file for bankruptcy under the Recovery Act. The plaintiffs sued Puerto Rico in district court and argued that Chapter 9 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code, which prohibits state municipal debt restructuring laws from binding creditors without their consent, preempts the Recovery Act. The district court found in favor of the plaintiffs and enjoined the enforcement of the Recovery Act. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit affirmed.\u003C\/p\u003E\n","question":"\u003Cp\u003EDoes Chapter 9 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code, which doesn\u2019t apply to Puerto Rico, nonetheless preempt the Puerto Rico statute that created a mechanism for public utilities to restructure their debts?\u003C\/p\u003E\n","conclusion":"\u003Cp\u003EChapter 9 of the Bankruptcy Code preempted the Puerto Rico statute that allowed public utilities to restructure their debt. Justice Clarence Thomas delivered the opinion for the 5-2 majority. The Court held that Puerto Rico is a \u201cstate\u201d within the meaning of the preemption provision of Chapter 9. When the Bankruptcy Code was originally enacted, it included territories, such as Puerto Rico, in the definition of \u201cstates\u201d to which the Code applied. Since then, Congress had amended the definition of \u201cstate\u201d to exclude Puerto Rico for the purpose of defining who may be a debtor under a specific provision of Chapter 9, but that narrowing of the definition did not apply to the preemption provision. The plain language of the preemption clause did not contain any language that excluded Puerto Rico; in contrast, the amended definition of state specifically excluded Puerto Rico for the purpose of defining who may be a debtor and went no further. Without further language from Congress, the text should not be interpreted to reflect a Congressional intent for which there is no textual evidence.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EJustice Sonia Sotomayor wrote a dissent in which she argued that each of the provisions of the Bankruptcy Code must be read within the context of the whole Code. Because the language of the preemption provision presupposed that it applied to states who could be considered debtors, that provision did not apply to Puerto Rico. Crucially, the language of the Code also meant that the only ways to solve Puerto Rico\u2019s fiscal crisis were for Puerto Rico to pass the kind of statute that it did or wait for direct Congressional action. Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg joined in the dissent.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EJustice Samuel A. Alito, Jr. did not participate in the discussion or decision of this case.\u003C\/p\u003E\n","advocates":[{"advocate":{"ID":19410,"name":"Christopher Landau","href":"https:\/\/api.oyez.org\/people\/christopher_landau","view_count":0,"last_name":"Landau","roles":null,"thumbnail":null,"length_of_service":0,"identifier":"christopher_landau"},"advocate_description":"for the petitioners","href":"https:\/\/api.oyez.org\/case_advocate\/case_advocate\/21633"},{"advocate":{"ID":62679,"name":"Matthew D. 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