Document ID: ./input/supremecourt_opinions/opinions/20pdf/19-357_6k47.pdf
Page Number: 12.0

Cite as:  592 U. S. ____ (2021) 

3 

SOTOMAYOR, J., concurring 

impound lot.1 

Peake’s situation is far too common.2  Drivers in low-in-
come  communities  across  the  country  face  similar  vicious 
cycles: A driver is assessed a fine she cannot immediately 
pay; the balance balloons as late fees accrue; the local gov-
ernment seizes the driver’s vehicle, adding impounding and
storage fees to the growing debt; and the driver, now with-
out reliable transportation to and from work, finds it all but 
impossible to repay her debt and recover her vehicle.  See 
Brief for American Civil Liberties Union et al. as Amici Cu-
riae  11–16,  31–32.  Such  drivers  may  turn  to  Chapter  13
bankruptcy for a “fresh start.”  Marrama, 549 U. S., at 367 
(internal quotation marks omitted).3  But without their ve-
hicles,  many  debtors  quickly  find  themselves  unable  to 
make their Chapter 13 payments.  The cycle thus continues, 
disproportionately  burdening  communities  of  color,  see 
Brief for American Civil Liberties Union et al. as Amici Cu-
riae 17, and interfering not only with debtors’ ability to earn 
an income and pay their creditors but also with their access
to childcare, groceries, medical appointments, and other ne-
cessities. 

Although the Court today holds that §362(a)(3) does not 

—————— 

1 Even though §362(a)(3) does not require turnover, whether and when 
the City may sell impounded cars is an entirely different matter.  See, 
e.g., In re Cowen, 849 F. 3d 943, 950 (CA10 2017) (“It’s not hard to come 
up with examples of . . . ‘acts’ that ‘exercise control’ over, but do not ‘ob-
tain possession of,’ the estate’s property, e.g., a creditor in possession who 
improperly sells property belonging to the estate”).

2 See, e.g., Ramos, Chicago Seized and Sold Nearly 50,000 Cars Over 
Tickets  Since  2011,  Sticking  Owners  With  Debt,  WBEZ  News  (Jan.  7,
2019) (online source archived at www.supremecourt.gov). 

3 The 10-year period from 2007 to 2017, for instance, saw a tenfold in-
crease in the number of Chicagoans filing Chapter 13 bankruptcies that 
involved  debt  to  the  City.    See  Sanchez  &  Kambhampati,  Driven  Into 
Debt: How Chicago Ticket Debt Sends Black Motorists Into Bankruptcy, 
ProPublica  Illinois  (Feb.  27,  2018)  (online  source  archived  at  www.su-
premecourt.gov).