The Purdue Pharma Chapter 11 case, currently on appeal before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, can set new precedent and put an end to the unconstitutional practice of nonconsensual third-party releases in the Second Circuit.

Glenn Agre recently filed an Amici Curiae brief on behalf of leading bankruptcy law professors Ralph Brubaker, George W. Kuney, and Bruce A. Markell in favor of affirming the district court’s ruling that the nonconsensual third-party releases granted to the Sackler family as part of Purdue’s Chapter 11 plan were impermissible.  The brief—which focuses on the correct interpretation of the Constitution and the Bankruptcy Code—argues that these releases infringe on the separation-of-powers limitation of the Constitution’s Bankruptcy Clause and violate claimants’ due process rights and the right to jury trial and final judgment from an Article III court. Affirming the district court’s decision will prohibit the illegitimate and unconstitutional practice of nonconsensual third-party releases and permanent injunctions that extinguish creditors’ direct claims of liability against non-debtors.