United States v. Kras

409 U.S. 434 (1973)

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Nature of the Case

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Facts

Kras (P) was an indigent and petitioned to the bankruptcy court. The fees required under the Bankruptcy Act totaled $50. The Act allows the fees to be paid in installments within a six-month period that may be extended another three months. P challenged the payment of required fees. P's situation was heart rendering and involved his wife, two children, his mother, and his mother's six-year-old daughter. P's younger child suffered from cystic fibrosis. P had been unemployed since 1969. The entire household had 366 dollars to live on of which $102 was for rent. P sought discharge of $6,428.69 in total indebtedness. The District Court went on to hold, that the prescribed fees, payment of which was required as a condition precedent to discharge served to deny P 'his Fifth Amendment right of due process, including equal protection.' It held that a discharge in bankruptcy was a 'fundamental interest' that could be denied only when a 'compelling government interest' was demonstrated (Boddie). The Government stresses the differences between divorce (with which Boddie was concerned) and bankruptcy and claims that Boddie is not controlling and that the fee requirements constitute a reasonable exercise of Congress' plenary power over bankruptcy.