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Much To Delaware's Chagrin, Justice Jackson's First Opinion Is In!

The decision may have gone the other way if Delaware just remembered to yell 'Dibs!' really loud.

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Senate Holds Supreme Court Confirmation Hearings For Ketanji Brown Jackson

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Whose money is it anyway? No — I’m not about to cold pitch my idea for a new game show. Delaware was recently taken to court over its usurpation of unclaimed funds. Well, we know that’s what it was now. But prior to today’s ruling, Delaware’s property right to unclaimed cash from unchecked MoneyGrams was up in the air. Thankfully, we now have a bit more clarity. From Reuters:

In the first ruling written by President Joe Biden’s appointee Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, the U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday sided with 30 states that argued that Delaware had no right keep hundreds of millions of dollars in uncashed MoneyGram (MGI.O) checks for itself.

The ruling authored by Jackson, who was confirmed last year by the Senate as the newest of the nine justices, was unanimous. Jackson wrote that the unclaimed funds generally belonged to the states where the MoneyGram financial products were purchased and not to Delaware, the state where the world’s second-largest money transfer company is incorporated.

Looks like the First State has to play second fiddle to the others. As Delaware takes the time to figure out how to return the unclaimed funds, they should also delegate figuring out how to make up for the income loss.

Many of the largest U.S. companies are incorporated in Delaware. For the state, unclaimed property has become a big money maker. It accounted for $448.6 million of Delaware’s $5.4 billion in revenue in 2021, making it the third-largest source of revenue.

Hopefully they do the state equivalent of a bake sale instead of hyper-policing and ticketing folks for revenue a la Alabama. As far as escheatment jurisprudence goes, be sure to update your outlines and mental rolodexes with this holding.

In Justice Jackson’s First Ruling, US Supreme Court Decides MoneyGram Case [Reuters]

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Chris Williams became a social media manager and assistant editor for Above the Law in June 2021. Prior to joining the staff, he moonlighted as a minor Memelord™ in the Facebook group Law School Memes for Edgy T14s.  He endured Missouri long enough to graduate from Washington University in St. Louis School of Law. He is a former boatbuilder who cannot swim, a published author on critical race theory, philosophy, and humor, and has a love for cycling that occasionally annoys his peers. You can reach him by email at cwilliams@abovethelaw.com and by tweet at @WritesForRent.

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