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United States v. Moore, 423 U.S. 77 (1975)
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General SummaryThis case is from a collection containing the full text of over 16,000 Supreme Court cases from 1793 to the present. The body of Supreme Court decisions are, effectively, the final interpretation of the Constitution. Only an amendment to the Constitution can permanently overturn an interpretation and this has happened only four times in American history.
United States v. Moore, 423 U.S. 77 (1975)
United States v. Moore No. 74-687 Argued October 15, 1975 Decided December 2, 1975 423 U.S. 77
CERTIORARI TO THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE FIFTH CIRCUIT
Syllabus
Obligations of an insolvent debtor arising from default in the performance of government contracts, occurring before an assignment for the benefit of creditors held entitled to the statutory priority accorded "debts due to the United States" under 31 U.S.C. § 191, even though the obligations were unliquidated in amount at the time of the assignment. Pp. 80-86.
(a) Nothing on the face of § 191, and no potential difficulty in administering it, require any distinction between liquidated and unliquidated debts for purpose of the statutory priority; the statute’s language looks to the time of payment, rather than the time when the assignment is made. P. 83.
(b) To construe the words "debts due to the United States" as including unliquidated claims and as not being restricted to those obligations that would on the date of the assignment have given rise to a common law action for debt, comports with the treatment of unliquidated claims in the Bankruptcy Acts, including the current Act. Pp. 83-85.
(c) The obligations in question were fixed and independent of "events after insolvency," and only the precise amount of those obligations awaited future events. Pp. 85-86.
497 F.2d 976, reversed and remanded.
BURGER, C.J., delivered the opinion for a unanimous Court.
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Chicago: U.S. Supreme Court, "Syllabus," United States v. Moore, 423 U.S. 77 (1975) in 423 U.S. 77 423 U.S. 78. Original Sources, accessed November 24, 2024, http://originalsources.com/Document.aspx?DocID=12VHFYJBCRIWQWR.
MLA: U.S. Supreme Court. "Syllabus." United States v. Moore, 423 U.S. 77 (1975), in 423 U.S. 77, page 423 U.S. 78. Original Sources. 24 Nov. 2024. http://originalsources.com/Document.aspx?DocID=12VHFYJBCRIWQWR.
Harvard: U.S. Supreme Court, 'Syllabus' in United States v. Moore, 423 U.S. 77 (1975). cited in 1975, 423 U.S. 77, pp.423 U.S. 78. Original Sources, retrieved 24 November 2024, from http://originalsources.com/Document.aspx?DocID=12VHFYJBCRIWQWR.
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