One of the principal purposes of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code is to provide a “fresh start” to debtors: an opportunity for these debtors to free themselves of burdensome debt and to start with a clean slate. At the same time, the Bankruptcy Code contains provisions that expressly except certain debts from the discharge normally granted a debtor who avails himself of the bankruptcy process. Among the debts that will survive a debtor’s bankruptcy are those arising from “willful and malicious injuries” that a debtor may have caused. The U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Massachusetts recently examined—and was constrained to balance —these potentially competing policies in In re McGinn, Case No. 19-11794, AP No. 19-01090 (Bankr. D. Mass., Feb. 28, 2022).

Factual Background

On the afternoon of Dec. 3, 1994, Gregory Eno fell from a curb along Main Street in Bourne, Massachusetts onto the roadway and in front of an idling car operated by Nancy McGinn. For reasons unknown, McGinn proceeded to drive the vehicle forward, running over Eno with all four tires of her vehicle. She then stopped the car, put it into reverse, and ran over Eno once again with all four tires. At that point, McGinn got out of her car, presumably to examine what (or whom) she had hit. After stopping to look, according to eyewitness testimony, McGinn got back into her car and “ripped out and left” the scene of the accident, unfortunately running over Eno a third time. As a result of these impacts, Eno suffered one collapsed lung, six broken ribs, two punctured lungs, a ruptured disk, and pressure on his spinal cord.