Judge Says Pension Fund Can't Seek Bankruptcy Protection

NPR reports:

The judge wrote that the Northern Mariana Islands Retirement Fund is "a 'governmental unit' " and therefore "not eligible for relief under Chapter 11 of the Bankruptcy Code."

But what he said after that is intriguing. He took time in his ruling to defend the trustees of the fund for pursuing this route:

"The trustees of the Fund should be praised, not criticized, for commencing this case. The trustees find themselves in an intolerable position. The Fund for which they are responsible is caught between an irresistible force — obligations to retirees which it cannot pay — and an immovable object — the government, which has persistently failed to pay its debt to the Fund. The trustees' attempt to find a solution to this dilemma is creative and praiseworthy even though I am inclined to rule that it cannot succeed. Congress did not intend that the Bankruptcy Code could solve all problems, least of all the financial problems of governmental units."

One of the most important legal cases of our time.