Automatic Sprinkler Corp. of America v. Darla Environmental Specialists Inc.

EASTERBROOK, Circuit Judge.

Buchanan v. Alexander, 45 U.S. (4 How.) 20, 11 L.Ed. 857 (1846), holds that money retained by the United States for the benefit of its employees may not be reached by the employees’ creditors unless Congress has enacted a statute authorizing garnishment or equivalent , relief. Otherwise, the Court believed, the principle of sovereign immunity prevents a judge from directing how, when, and to whom the United States should distribute funds. In this case the district judge concluded that application of Buchanan would work an injustice, to a creditor and wondered aloud:…