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Northern Pipeline Co. v. Marathon Pipe Line Co.

Northern Pipeline Construction Company v. Marathon Pipe Line Company
Seal of the United States Supreme Court.svg
Argued April 27, 1982
Decided June 28, 1982
Full case name Northern Pipeline Construction Company v. Marathon Pipe Line Company
Citations 458 U.S. 50 (more)
102 S. Ct. 2858; 73 L. Ed. 2d 598; 1982 U.S. LEXIS 143; 50 U.S.L.W. 4892; Bankr. L. Rep. (CCH) P68,698; 6 Collier Bankr. Cas. 2d (MB) 785; 9 Bankr. Ct. Dec. 67
Prior history On appeal from the United States District Court for the District of Minnesota
Subsequent history None
Holding
The U.S. Bankruptcy Courts could not exercise the full powers of an Article III court.
Court membership
Chief Justice
Warren E. Burger
Associate Justices
William J. Brennan, Jr. · Byron White
Thurgood Marshall · Harry Blackmun
Lewis F. Powell, Jr. · William Rehnquist
John P. Stevens · Sandra Day O'Connor
Case opinions
Plurality Brennan, joined by Marshall, Blackmun, Stevens
Concurrence Rehnquist, joined by O'Connor
Dissent Burger
Dissent White, joined by Burger, Powell
Laws applied
28 U.S.C. § 1471

Northern Pipeline Construction Company v. Marathon Pipe Line Company, 458 U.S. 50 (1982), is a United States Supreme Court case in which the Court held that Article III jurisdiction could not be conferred on non-Article III courts (i.e. courts without the independence and protection given to Article III judges).

The Bankruptcy Act of 1978 completely altered bankruptcy law in the United States. It created the Bankruptcy Code (Title 11 of the United States Code), and created bankruptcy courts, which served as adjuncts to the United States District Courts for each federal judicial district of the United States. Under the previous law, the Bankruptcy Act of 1898, the federal district courts served as bankruptcy courts and appointed “referees” to conduct proceedings, so long as the district court chose not to withdraw a case from the referee. The new law eliminated the “referee” system and allowed the President to appoint bankruptcy judges for terms of fourteen years (as opposed to the life tenure given to Article III judges), with the advice and consent of the Senate. The judges’ salaries were set by statute and subject to adjustment, and they could be removed by the judicial council of the circuit on grounds of incompetence, misconduct, neglect of duty, or physical or mental disability (as compared with Article III judges, who may only be impeached by Congress and are constitutionally forbidden from having their pay decreased while in office).


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