A groundbreaking look at the hidden role of bankruptcy in perpetuating inequality in America, from an expert in the field. Bankruptcy is the busiest federal court in America. In theory, bankruptcy in America exists to cancel or restructure debts for people and companies that have way too many—a safety valve designed to provide a mechanism for restarting lives and businesses when things go wrong financially. In this brilliant and paradigm-shifting book, legal scholar Melissa B. Jacoby shows how bankruptcy has also become an escape hatch for powerful individuals, corporations, and governments, contributing in unseen and poorly understood ways to race, gender, and class inequality in America. When cities go bankrupt, for example, police unions enjoy added leverage while police brutality victims are denied a seat at the negotiating table; the system is more forgiving of civil rights abuses than of the parking tickets disproportionately distributed in African American neighborhoods. Across a broad range of crucial issues, Unjust Debts reveals the hidden mechanisms by which bankruptcy impacts everything from sexual harassment to health care, police violence to employment discrimination, and the opioid crisis to gun violence. In the tradition of Matthew Desmond’s groundbreaking Evicted, Unjust Debts is a riveting and original work of accessible scholarship with huge implications for ordinary people and will set the terms of debate for this vital subject. Melissa B. Jacoby is the Graham Kenan Professor of Law at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. A frequent commentator on bankruptcy and debt in national media outlets, she has published over fifty articles, book chapters, and op-eds. She lives in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, and Brooklyn, New York. Unjust Debts: How Our Bankruptcy System Makes America More Unequal (The New Press) is her first book. Find her at mbjacoby.org. Gene R. Nichol is a law professor, […]

Join us as we celebrate successes with Chatham Magazine’s 2024 Women of Achievement during our Evening with Distinguished Women event. This is an event exclusively for our female Chamber members and female members of the community. The event will be held at Starrlight Mead on Tuesday, June 18 at 5:30 PM. The event will include a panel discussion, speeches from the Women of Achievement recipients, networking, appetizers, and more. We’d like to thank Chatham Magazine, Edward Jones - Financial Advisor: Sharon Dickens, and Starrlight Mead for sponsoring the event. Tickets are $20 for Chamber Members and $25 for Future Chamber Members. Registration required.