Lewis

Appellant James Lewis seeks review of a final judgment issued by the United States District Court for the District of Idaho in favor of appellee United States Department of Education (“Department”). The bankruptcy court held and the district court affirmed that a congressional amendment to the law governing the discharge-ability of a student loan obligation in bankruptcy may be retroactively applied to an obligation incurred prior to the date the law was changed. Whether the district court correctly ruled that the retroactive amendments govern appellant’s student loans is the single issue of law before this court on appeal. Appellant’s central argument is that he had a right to rely on the statute of limitations in effect at the time he incurred his obligation because (a) the statute of limitations was an implicit term of the contract he signed, (b) his contract created a property right to discharge his student loans after the prescribed statutory period, and (c) any government action to impair his contractual right violates his Fifth Amendment right to due process.

We reject his challenge. Bankruptcy is a legislatively created benefit, not a right, that Congress may alter or…