Opinion ID: 3047355
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: the provisions of the Consumer

Text: Credit Protection Act [limiting the garnish- ment of disposable earnings] shall apply to enforcement of the judgment under Federal law or State law. 18 U.S.C. § 3613(a). The primary linguistic distinction between these two provisions is that the tax levy statute speaks in the negative — specifying that “no property or rights to property shall be exempt” — while MVRA makes precisely the same point affirmatively — “a fine may be enforced against all property or rights to property.”9 The similarity between these statutory phrases is not happenstance: Before Congress enacted the current language of § 3613 in 1996 as part of MVRA, the enforcement statute had cross-referenced the tax levy provisions. 18 U.S.C. § 3613(c) (1994) (“The provisions of section[ ] . . . 6334 . . . of the Internal Revenue Code . . . apply to a fine . . . as if the liability of the person fined were for an internal revenue tax assessment, except to the extent that the application of such statutes is modified by regulations issued by the Attorney General to accord with differences in the nature of the liabilities.”). This similar use of language is critical to our endeavor to understand the interaction of MVRA and ERISA, for two reasons: First, this court has construed the tax levy language as rendering ERISA’s anti-alienation provision inapplicable. McIntyre v. United States (In re McIntyre), 222 F.3d 655, 660 (9th 9 The dissent wrongly attributes significance to the “other than the property specifically made exempt by subsection (a)” language of 26 U.S.C. § 6334(c). Dissent at 2020. Section 6334 codifies the tax levy exemptions in a separate subsection, while MVRA codifies the restitution exceptions in the same subsection. This drafting difference required a cross-reference in § 6334 absent in § 3613, but does not suggest that one list of exceptions is exclusive while the other is not. To the contrary, our case law dictates that when Congress provides a list of exceptions in a statute, that list is presumed exclusive. See Tang, 77 F.3d at 1197; Hale, 993 F.2d at 1392. UNITED STATES v. NOVAK 1971 Cir. 2000). McIntyre’s reasoning rested both on the plain language of the tax levy provision and on ERISA’s saving clause provision, which specifies “[n]othing in this subchapter [which includes the anti-alienation provision] shall be construed to alter, amend, modify, invalidate, impair, or supersede any law of the United States.” Id. (second alteration in original) (quoting 29 U.S.C. § 1144(d)) (internal quotation marks omitted). Our decision in McIntyre is consistent with our earlier observation that “courts have construed the plain language of § 6334 literally and have refused to exempt property from IRS levy which is not specifically exempted by the statute.” Beam v. IRS (In re Beam), 192 F.3d 941, 944 (9th Cir. 1999); see also United States v. Mitchell, 403 U.S. 190, 205 (1971) (“This language [of § 6334(c)] is specific and it is clear and there is no room in it for automatic exemption of property that happens to be exempt from state levy under state law.”). Ruling otherwise in the face of the “notwithstanding” language, we said, would “ignore[ ] the specifically stated intent of Congress to limit the instances where an IRS levy may not attach.” Beam, 192 F.3d at 945. McIntyre’s understanding of the combination of the “notwithstanding” phrase and the broad substantive coverage of the tax levy provision also accords with that adopted by other federal courts. See United States v. Taylor, 338 F.3d 947, 950 n.3 (8th Cir. 2003) (“The IRS has authority to proceed against [pensioner’s] interest in any ERISA plan benefits and is not constrained by ERISA’s anti-alienation provision.” (quoting McIntyre, 222 F.3d at 660) (internal quotation marks omitted)); Shanbaum v. United States, 32 F.3d 180, 183 (5th Cir. 1994) (per curiam) (holding a taxpayer’s argument that the anti-alienation provision affects the tax levy authority of the IRS to be “without merit”); id. at 183 n.4 (citing a number of district court and bankruptcy court decisions that come to the same conclusion). The reasoning in McIntyre equally applies in the restitution order context. The reference in 18 U.S.C. § 3613(a) to “all 1972 UNITED STATES v. NOVAK property” is no less plain than the “no property” reference in 26 U.S.C. § 6334(c). And prohibiting the garnishment of retirement plan benefits would just as clearly “modify” the government’s authority under 18 U.S.C. § 3613(a) to enforce criminal restitution orders against “all property” as would such a prohibition “modify” the government’s authority under 26 U.S.C. § 6334(c) to enforce tax liens. Moreover, courts generally interpret similar language in different statutes in a like manner when the two statutes address a similar subject matter. See Metro. Life Ins. Co. v. Taylor, 481 U.S. 58, 65 (1987) (noting a presumption that similar language in two statutes both addressing the same subject, labor law, would have a similar meaning); Northcross v. Bd. of Educ., 412 U.S. 427, 428 (1973) (per curiam) (holding that the “strong indication that the two statutes should be interpreted pari passu” because of a similarity in language was reinforced by the fact that “the two provisions share a common raison d’être” (quoting Johnson v. Combs, 471 F.2d 84, 86 (5th Cir. 1972)) (internal quotation marks omitted)). Here, the two statutes both address the government’s enforcement of citizens’ monetary obligations through seizure of pension benefits and are historically linked. The broad interpretation of the “notwithstanding” language in the tax levy statute to include coverage of retirement plans should therefore carry over to the criminal restitution provision. Second, Congress’s choice to import the tax levy language into the restitution order enforcement statute is significant, independent of the propriety of our decision in McIntyre, because courts had uniformly construed the tax levy statute to supersede ERISA’s anti-alienation provision before the “notwithstanding” language was added to § 3613(a). Shanbaum, 32 F.3d at 183; Travelers Ins. Co. v. Rattermann, No. C-1-94466, 1996 WL 149332, at -4 (S.D. Ohio Jan. 12, 1996) (“Although ERISA’s anti-alienation clause prevents ordinary creditors from attaching pension payments, the courts that have dealt with the particular issue . . . have unanimously held UNITED STATES v. NOVAK 1973 that a federal tax lien or levy may be imposed upon private ERISA-qualified pension plan funds.” (emphasis added)); Jacobs v. IRS (In re Jacobs), 147 B.R. 106, 108-09 (Bankr. W.D. Pa. 1992); see also Treas. Reg. § 1.401(a)-13(b)(2) (interpreting, in a provision promulgated in 1978, the parallel anti-alienation provision under the Internal Revenue Code to allow tax levies). We presume that Congress is aware of preexisting judicial interpretations of statutory language it replicates in later statutes, and that it seeks to import those interpretations into the new statute. See Cannon v. Univ. of Chi., 441 U.S. 677, 696-98 (1979). It is particularly noteworthy, given this close replication of earlier-construed statutory language, that Congress was aware of the ERISA anti-alienation issue when MVRA was under consideration. During the Senate’s December 1995 debate on MVRA, Senator McCain detailed faults he found with the bill, including its failure to amend ERISA to allow the garnishment of retirement plans to satisfy restitution orders. 141 CONG. REC. S19,282 (daily ed. Dec. 22, 1995). The version of MVRA under consideration at that time did not include the language of the present 18 U.S.C. § 3613(a). See H.R. 665, 104th Cong. § 106(c)(3) (as passed by Senate, Dec. 22, 1995). Significantly, Senator Hatch informed Senator McCain that the Judiciary Committee intended to consider such concerns. 141 CONG. REC. S19,282 (daily ed. Dec. 22, 1995). Senator McCain also introduced freestanding legislation in February 1996 to amend ERISA to permit retirement plan garnishment as a means of enforcing restitution orders. See S. 1570, 104th Cong. (1996). [9] The language of the present § 3613(a), including the “notwithstanding” phrase, first appeared in the bill that became MVRA when it emerged from the joint House/Senate Conference Committee in April 1996. S. 735, 104th Cong. § 207(c)(3) (as reported by Conference Committee, Apr. 15, 1996). The Conference Report does not explain this addition, noting merely that the bill adopted the Senate’s language “to1974 UNITED STATES v. NOVAK gether with perfecting amendments.” H.R. REP. No. 104-518, at 111 (1996) (Conf. Rep.). Nevertheless, in light of the concern about the ERISA anti-alienation provision expressed earlier in the legislative process, the assurance that such concerns would be considered, and the existing interpretation of similar language addressing the closely parallel tax levy situation, the strong likelihood is that the sudden appearance of the current § 3613(a) language at the end of the legislative process was linked to the earlier-expressed concern. 3. In light of these considerations, that MVRA followed rather than preceded ERISA is of no moment. Because statutory repeals by implication are disfavored, courts presume that by passing a new statute Congress ordinarily does not intend to displace laws already in effect. See Posadas v. Nat’l City Bank, 296 U.S. 497, 503 (1936). Our case law concerning application of this presumption against implied repeals, however, supports rather than detracts from our interpretation of MVRA.10 Our implied repeal cases indicate that when a “notwithstanding” clause is present, then, the usual presumption against implied repeals is mitigated in that (1) a later statute that conflicts with an earlier one should be considered to supersede the earlier statute if the only way that earlier one can stand is as a limited exception to the broad terms of the 10 We are not sure that a latter-enacted statute effects an implied repeal by merely creating a limited category of cases in which the earlier statute does not apply. The Tenth Circuit has observed that it “see[s] no repealby-implication problem” when a “later statute simply addresses one particular application [of the former statute] and carves out an exception.” Harris v. Owens, 264 F.3d 1282, 1296 (10th Cir. 2001); see also Strawser v. Atkins, 290 F.3d 720, 733 (4th Cir. 2002) (“Rather than repeal by implication a general statute, the . . . amendment simply created a specific, discrete exception to that statute.” (citation omitted)); Greenless v. Almond, 277 F.3d 601, 608 (1st Cir. 2002) (“The ‘implied repeal’ argument is an odd one because at issue is not whether Congress totally repealed [the statute], but whether it intended to carve out [a certain application] from the reach of that provision.”). We assume for purposes of this opinion, however, that the implied repeal canon of construction applies to implied limitations as well. UNITED STATES v. NOVAK 1975 later one; and (2) the “notwithstanding” clause, combined with other convincing indices of statutory intent, will suffice to make manifest that there is indeed an irreconcilable conflict such that the two statutes dictate opposite results as to a particular matter. As to the first point: We have recognized that “including a ‘notwithstanding any other law’ provision” is a method — akin to an express reference to the superseded statute — by which Congress can demonstrate that it “intended to partially repeal [an] Act.” Lujan-Armendariz v. INS, 222 F.3d 728, 747 (9th Cir. 2000); see also Bank of New Eng. Old Colony, N.A. v. Clark, 986 F.2d 600, 604 (1st Cir. 1993) (“The . . . statute began by stating ‘[n]otwithstanding any other provision of law . . . ,’ manifesting a clear intent to override any conflicting statutes in existence.”). In Lujan-Armendariz, Judge Rein- hardt explained that in some circumstances an earlier enactment will be understood as a minor exception to the later one so as to avoid a repeal by implication, relying on the “irreconcilable conflict” prong of the implied repeal presumption explained in Radzanower v. Touche Ross & Co., 426 U.S. 148 (1976). 222 F.3d at 743-44. There was no “notwithstanding” clause in Radzanower however, and, as Lujan- Armendariz indicates, when the question is whether “Congress . . . intend[ed] to bar . . . exceptions to the new [statute’s] literal terms,” a “notwithstanding” clause can serve as an “indication . . . that the new law was intended to displace” the old one. Id. at 747. As to the second implied repeal limitation summarized above: In Moyle v. Director, Office of Workers’ Compensation Programs, 147 F.3d 1116 (9th Cir. 1998), the “plain language of the [later statutory] provision and its legislative history demonstrate[d] the legislature’s ‘clear and manifest’ intent to repeal the [earlier] Anti-Alienation provision,” in a case in which “two provisions irreconcilably conflict because the [later] provision permits garnishment of [certain pension] benefits and the [earlier] Anti-Alienation provision prohibits 1976 UNITED STATES v. NOVAK such garnishment.” Id. at 1124. Similarly here, the “notwithstanding” clause is not the only statutory indication of Congressional intent on § 3613. Giving effect to the “notwithstanding” clause in conjunction with the breadth of the “all property or rights to property” language; the express inclusion of Social Security retirement benefits in the reach of “all property or rights to property”; the specific exclusion of certain federal pensions that have their own anti-alienation provisions; and the use of language derived from the tax levy statute, previously construed by courts to allow seizure of ERISA-covered retirement plan benefits, we conclude that Congress has expressed its intent to override the statute in sufficiently clear terms to overcome any contrary presumption.