Court Opinion

ID: 9419167
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-02 22:47:13.60117+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:22:16.110986
License: Public Domain

Mr. Justice Douglas,
dissenting:
Under the statute in question, it becomes the duty of the commissioner of motor vehicles to suspend the operator’s license of one against whom the unsatisfied judgment has been rendered (Matter of Jones v. Harnett, 247 App. Div. 7, 286 N. Y. S. 220; aff’d 271 N. Y. 626, 3 N. E. 2d 455), “upon receiving a certified copy” of such final judgment from the court. McKinney’s Cons. L. Bk. 62-A, § 94-b. The statute further provides that “It shall be the duty of the clerk of the court, or of the court, where it has no clerk, in which any such judgment is rendered, to forward immediately, upon written demand of the judgment creditor or his attorney ... to such commissioner a certified copy of such judgment or a transcript thereof.” [Italics supplied.] Id.
In this case the judgment creditor invoked the power which the New York legislature placed in his hands. At the request of his attorney, the clerk of the court forwarded a transcript of the judgment to the commissioner, who thereupon issued the order of suspension.
The power thus granted the judgment creditor contravenes § 17 of the Bankruptcy Act. Judgments on claims of the kind involved here1 are provable (Lewis v. Roberts, *41267 U. S. 467) and do not fall within any of the categories of debts excepted from discharge by § 17. Since they are dischargeable, a state cannot supply a device for their collection which survives a discharge in bankruptcy. The bankruptcy power is “unrestricted and paramount”; the states “may not pass or enforce laws to interfere with or complement the Bankruptcy Act or to provide additional or auxiliary regulations.” International Shoe Co. v. Pinkus, 278 U. S. 261, 265. The power which New York has placed in the hands of this judgment creditor is such an interference, though the discharge in bankruptcy be deemed to destroy only the remedy (Zavelo v. Reeves, 227 U. S. 625) not the debt.
Under the New York scheme a creditor whose claim has been discharged still holds a club over his debtor’s head. The state has given him a remedy which survives bankruptcy. If the bankrupt refuses to pay his discharged debt, the creditor will see to it that his driver’s license is suspended. If, however, the bankrupt will pay up, the creditor will refrain.
The practical pressures of this collection device are apparent. Where retention of the operator’s license is essential to livelihood, as here alleged, the bankrupt is at the creditor’s mercy. Bankruptcy is not then the sanctuary for hapless debtors which Congress intended. The bankrupt, instead of receiving by virtue of his discharge “a new opportunity in life and a clear field for future effort, unhampered by the pressure and discouragement of preexisting debt” (Local Loan Co. v. Hunt, 292 U. S. 234, 244) finds himself still entangled with a former creditor.
In practical effect the bankrupt may be in as bad, or even worse, a position than if the state had made it possible for a creditor to attach his future wages. Such a device *42would clearly contravene the Bankruptcy Act. Local Loan Co. v. Hunt, supra. The present one likewise runs afoul of the Act.
But it is said that if this provision of the statute falls out, the old one falls in; and under the old one it was the duty of the clerk to certify the unsatisfied judgment to the commissioner. The difficulty with that view is that this is not that case. This bankrupt’s license was suspended as a result of legal compulsion by the creditor. Whether it would have been suspended had the commissioner been advised that the amendment giving the creditor that power contravened the Bankruptcy Act is ■ wholly conjectural. The question of whether a provision of a state statute survives an invalid amendment is a question of state law. See Oklahoma v. Wells, Fargo & Co., 223 U. S. 298. We do not know what the ruling of the New York courts would be under this statute. Nor -. do we know whether as a matter of administrative poliey,,- •.> the clerk and the commissioner would have proceeded on •y--: the basis of the old statute or would have awaited legislative clarification. But, since we do know that the bankrupt was deprived of his license by reason of a statute which conflicts with the Bankruptcy Act, we should strike down the statutory provision which in fact was invoked.
The constitutional objection to this statute, however, persists even though we assume that the bankrupt’s license would have been suspended without the creditor’s initiative. The Act also provides that “if the judgment creditor consents in writing that the judgment debtor be allowed license and registration, the same may be allowed for six months from the date of such consent by the commissioner and thereafter. . . .” (Italics supplied.) I do not think we can pass over that provision on the theory that the power of the creditor to lift the suspension does not appear to have been invoked in this case and that if the creditor *43attempts to exercise such power the commissioner will have to pass on the constitutional issue. Meanwhile, the provision in question will give to the creditor enormous leverage. His bargaining position will be greatly fortified. The bankrupt is at his mercy where the means of livelihood are at stake., If the bankrupt agrees to a settlement, makes arrangements for instalment payments, or the like, the creditor will see to it that the license is restored. If the bankrupt rests on his rights, the creditor will show no mercy. In the interim, there is no way by which the bankrupt can rid himself of that pressure, unless he makes peace with the creditor.; he cannot force the constitutional issue in any way other than the present suit. If the creditor agrees to lift the suspension, the bankrupt would be the last to object. In any event, the provision by that time would have spent much of its force. In short, this power, which New York has given the creditor is a powerful ■ collection device which should not be allowed to survive bankruptcy.
I agree that we should not meet a constitutional issue unless it is unavoidable. But that issue cannot be escaped here, unless we are to overlook the realities of collection methods.
Me. Justice Black, Me. Justice Byrnes and Me. Justice Jackson join in this dissent.

 The appearance of judgments, arising out of automobile accidents, among individual bankrupts' schedules of liabilities has been common. Causes of Business Failures and Bankruptcies of Individuals in New Jersey in 1929-30, U. S. Dept. of Commerce, Don. Comm. Series No. *4154, pp. 25-26 (1931); Causes of Commercial Bankruptcies, id., No. 69, pp. 14-16 (1932); Causes of Bankruptcies Among Consumers, id., No. 82, pp. 14-15 (1933).