When a normal person declares bankruptcy, they are required to divest themselves of nearly everything of value they possess, and then still find themselves hounded by cruel arm-breakers who deluge them with threatening calls and letters:
https://pluralistic.net/2021/05/19/zombie-debt/#damnation
But for the richest people in America, bankruptcy is merely a way to cleanse one's balance sheet of liabilities for any atrocity you may have committed on the way, without giving up your fortune.
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The Sacklers are a case-study in how a corrupt bankruptcy can be conducted.
Purdue Pharma presents a maddening case-study in the corrupt benefits of bankruptcy. When it was announced in March, many were outraged to learn that the Sacklers were going to walk away with billions, while their victims got stiffed.
First, they converted their victims' right to compensation into "property" that the Sacklers themselves owned.
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This transferred jurisdiction over these claims from the regular court system to the bankruptcy court. A bankruptcy judge - not a jury - would decide how much each of these claims was worth, and then what how much of that worth these victims (now recast as creditors) would be entitled to through the bankruptcy.
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