Decisions in a Civil Rights Case and a Newspaper Corporation's Chapter 11 Proceeding
In Revell v. Erickson, No. 09-2029, the Third Circuit faced a challenge to the district court's dismissal of plaintiff's 42 U.S.C. section 1983 action against the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey and a Port Authority Police officer for arresting him under New Jersey's gun laws and seizing his firearm and ammunition in violation of his rights under section 826A of FOPA.
As stated in the decision: "It is clear from the statute that a person transporting a firearm across state lines must ensure that the firearm and any ammunition being transported is not readily accessible or...directly accessible from the passenger compartment of the transporting vehicle...Looking solely at the allegations of Revell's original complaint, it is also clear that what happened here does not fall within section 926A's scope because his firearm and ammunition were readily accessible to him during his overnight stay in New Jersey.
Thus, in affirming the district court's judgment in favor of the defendants, the court held that the district court was correct in dismissing his section 926A claim and the associated Fourth Amendment claim. Furthermore, the grant of summary judgment on the due process claim was proper as plaintiff failed to take advantage of state procedures available to him for the return of his property.
In In Re: Philadelphia Newspapers, LLC., No. 09-4266, the court addressed the issue of whether Bankruptcy Code section 1129(b)(2)(A) requires that any debtor who proposes, as part of its reorganization plan, a sale of assets free of liens must allow creditors whose loans are secured by those assets to bid their credit at the auction in Chapter 11 proceedings.
The court upheld the district court's approval of the proposed bid procedures in concluding that section 1129(b)(2)(A)(iii) unambiguously permits a debtor to proceed with any plan that provides secure lenders with the "indubitable equivalent" of their secured interest in the assets and contains no statutory right to credit bidding.