Appellate Review of a Bankruptcy Court's Preliminary Injunction

A bankruptcy court preliminary injunction should be reviewable as of right because of Supreme Court precedent, the rulings of other courts and common sense. Sound policy reasons also require appellate review, as explained below, because federal courts have a duty to decide cases. A district court's use of procedural facades to avoid making a decision should not be an option for an Article III court when a preliminary injunction is appealed from a non-Article III bankruptcy court.

Relevance

The Second Circuit's Kassover holding bound the district court in Navient, but other courts of appeals have later disagreed with the reasoning of Kassover. See, United Airlines, Inc. v. U.S. Bank, 406 F.3d 918, 923- 24 (7th Cir. 2005) (reversed district court's refusal to review bankruptcy court's "interlocutory orders" (injunctions); court stressed need for "review by an Article III judge.") (Easterbrook, J.); In re World Imports Ltd., 820 F.3d 576, 582 n.5 (3d Cir. 2016) ("Pursuant to 28 U.S.C. §§158(a) and 1292(a), the District Court had jurisdiction over the appeal from the Bankruptcy Court's order granting injunctive relief."); In re Affeldt, 60 F.3d 1292, 1294 (8th Cir. 1995) ("Under 28 U.S.C. §1292(a)(l) …, we have jurisdiction over [bankruptcy court] injunctions."), citing Conn. Nat'l Bank v. Germain, 503 U.S. 249, 254- 56 (1992); In re Prof'l Ins., Mgmt., 285 F.3d 268, 282 n.16 (3d Cir. 2002) (Ambro, J.) (district court, as appellate court, authorized to hear appeal from bankruptcy court as appealable "injunctive order'' under 28 U.S.C. §1292(a) (l)).