Stern v. Marshall
| Stern v. Marshall | |
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| Argued January 18, 2011 Decided June 23, 2011 |
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| Full case name | Howard K. Stern, Executor of the Estate of Vickie Lynn Marshall, Petitioner v. Elaine T. Marshall, Executrix of the Estate of E. Pierce Marshall |
| Docket nos. | 10-179 |
| Citations | 564 U.S. 462 (more)
131 S. Ct. 2594; 180 L. Ed. 2d 475; 2011 U.S. LEXIS 4791; 79 U.S.L.W. 4564; Bankr. L. Rep. (CCH) P82,032; 65 Collier Bankr. Cas. 2d (MB) 827; 55 Bankr. Ct. Dec. 1; 22 Fla. L. Weekly Fed. S 1232
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| Prior history | Marshall v. Marshall (In re Marshall) 253 B.R. 550 (Bankr. C.D. Cal. 2001); affirmed in part, vacated and remanded, 264 B.R. 609 (C.D. Cal. 2000); 275 B.R. 5 (C.D. Cal. 2002); reversed and remanded with instructions 600 F.3d 1037 (9th Cir. 2010); cert. granted, 131 S. Ct. 2594 (2011) |
| Holding | |
| The U.S. Bankruptcy Court lacked the constitutional authority to enter a final judgment on a state law counterclaim that is not resolved in the process of ruling on a creditor’s proof of claim, even though they are granted statutory authority under 28 U.S.C. §157 (b)2(C).Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed. | |
| Court membership | |
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| Case opinions | |
| Majority | Roberts, joined by Scalia, Kennedy, Thomas, Alito |
| Concurrence | Scalia |
| Dissent | Breyer, joined by Ginsburg, Sotomayor, Kagan |
| Laws applied | |
| 28 U.S.C. § 1331, 28 U.S.C. § 1334, 28 U.S.C. § 157 | |
Stern v. Marshall, 564 U.S. 462 (2011), was a United States Supreme Court case in which the Court held that a bankruptcy court, as a non-Article III court (i.e. courts without full judicial independence) lacked constitutional authority under Article III of the United States Constitution to enter a final judgment on a state law counterclaim that is not resolved in the process of ruling on a creditor's proof of claim, even though Congress purported to grant such statutory authority under 28 U.S.C. § 157(b)2(C). The case drew an unusual amount of interest because the petitioner was the estate of former Playboy Playmate and celebrity Anna Nicole Smith (whose legal name was Vickie Lynn Marshall). Smith had died long before the Court ultimately decided the case, which her estate lost.
Playboy Playmate and celebrity Anna Nicole Smith married wealthy 89-year-old oil magnate J. Howard Marshall II, and he died 14 months later. When it appeared she had been excluded from his estate, she sued in Texas state probate court, sparking a long and acrimonious series of litigations between herself and Marshall's son E. Pierce Marshall. At one point, a federal district court determined that Smith was owed $88 million from the estate, while the state probate court determined that she was not owed any such substantial sum. The U.S. Supreme Court determined that the federal district court had jurisdiction to rule on the award in Marshall v. Marshall (2006).
The case was sent back to the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals to decide other remaining issues. On March 19, 2010, the same three-judge panel found in favor of E. Pierce Marshall holding that the bankruptcy court did not have the authority to decide the case, and, because the California federal district court should not have reviewed matters previously decided in the Texas probate court, the $88 million judgment for Smith was void. Following the 9th Circuit's decision, lawyers for the estate of Anna Nicole Smith requested the appeal be heard before the entire circuit. However, on May 5, 2010, that request was denied. On September 28, 2010, the U.S. Supreme Court again agreed to hear the case.
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