District Court Orders U.S. Marshall to Arrest and Incarcerate Debtor...

The U.S. District Court for the District of Nebraska took the unusual step of directing the U.S. Marshall to located, arrest and incarcerate two pro se debtors found in civil contempt for repeatedly failing to obey orders of a Nebraska bankruptcy court.  The case is In re Berg, No. 8:19-cv-00452. 

According to the district court's order (here), the debtors apparently had flouted several orders of the bankruptcy court before U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Thomas Saladino.  The District Court held a hearing on the debtor's contempt at which the debtors failed to appear.  For failing to appear (in both the district and bankruptcy courts) the District Court held the debtors in civil contempt and further held the debtors in contempt for failing to appear at the 341(a) meeting of creditors and for failing to comply with the bankruptcy court's order to turn over assets and information to the trustee.

Accordingly, the District Court ordered the U.S. Marshal "immediately [to] arrest and incarcerate the Debtors . . . until their contempt is purged . . . by immediately turning over to the Trustee the assets described in the Trustee's motion and by submitting to an examination by the Trustee with respect to their assets, liabilities, financial transactions and any other matters relating to the administrative of their bankruptcy case."