Betts v. Attorney Registration & Disciplinary Commission

MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER

PLUNKETT, District Judge.

John A. Betts, an Illinois attorney, was once suspended from the practice of law for six months and later ordered to pay the costs of his disciplinary proceedings. Without paying those costs, Betts filed a petition for bankruptcy. The ARDC filed an adversary petition to determine the dischargeability of the costs. The bankruptcy court found that those costs were not dischargeable, and Betts appealed.

Among other arguments, Betts claimed that the bankruptcy judge pandered to the whims of the ARDC out of fear of losing his law license:

Bankruptc…