SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES
1. North Georgia Finishing, Inc. v. Di-Chem, Inc., 419 U.S. 601, 95 S.Ct. 719, 42 L.Ed. 751 (1975). Certiorari to the Supreme Court of Georgia, 230 Ga. 623, 198 S.E.2d 284 (1973), Georgia Court of Appeals, 127 Ga. App. 593 (1972). Attachment, garnishment, procedural and substantive due process, state action, deprivation of property for Defendant/Appellant rev’d.
Factual predicate: The nexus of this dispute arose pursuant to Georgia’s extant attachment and garnishment scheme which authorized a pre-judgment garnishment of a claimed debtors bank account, pendente lite, upon a creditor’s conclusory affidavit of indebtedness where a creditor “feared the loss” of its ability to collect in the future if a judgment was obtained.
The writ issued over a clerk’s signature without judicial review. Thereafter, the case would pend only between creditor and garnishee. The debtor had no statutory pre-writ notice, and could not be heard to complain without substituting itself for the garnishee by posting a bound in double the amount claimed by the creditor.
As a practical matter, such writs were typically (as in this case) filed with the court and served on the garnishee on Friday afternoon, too late for judicial relief but in time to catch weekly deposits and cause non-payment of outstanding demands, including weekly payroll, when presented. Such garnishments were known as “Friday afternoon specials.”
The litigation pathway. North Georgia Finishing was denied relief in the lower courts and filed an appeal, raising constitutional issues in the Supreme Court of Georgia. The Georgia Supreme Court transferred the case to the Georgia Court of Appeals without opinion. After the Georgia Court of Appeals issued an opinion, the Georgia Supreme Court issued an Order denying certiorari, vacating the Georgia Court of Appeals decision on the ground that its initial transfer had been in error. The Georgia Supreme Court then sua sponte then reclaimed jurisdiction and denied relief to the debtor. On debtor’s application to the Supreme Court of the United States, certiorari was granted, and a reversal was obtained.
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