No. 24-6002 ___________________________

In re: William Phillip Jackson,

Debtor.

------------------------------

William Phillip Jackson,

Appellant

v.

United States of America,

Appellee ________________

Appeal from United States Bankruptcy Court for the Western District of Missouri ____________

Submitted: September 30, 2024 Filed: October 25, 2024 ____________ Before HASTINGS, Chief Judge, SURRATT-STATES, AND CONSTANTINE, Bankruptcy Judges. ____________ HASTINGS, Chief Judge.

Debtor/Appellant William Phillip Jackson appeals the bankruptcy court’s1 order granting Appellee United States of America’s Motion to Lift Automatic Stay Nunc Pro Tunc and denying Jackson’s Motion for Contempt and for Turnover of Personal Property.2 For the following reasons, we conclude that the matters raised on appeal are constitutionally moot and dismiss the appeal for lack of jurisdiction.

BACKGROUND

This appeal stems from protracted litigation in federal district court, the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals and bankruptcy court arising from unpaid federal taxes Jackson owes to the United States and the United States’ efforts to collect the debt. On January 30, 2019, following a July 2018 jury trial and post-trial proceedings, the United States District Court for the Western District of Missouri entered an Order and Final Judgment against Jackson in the total sum of $2,396,800.47 plus statutory interest and statutory additions. In its Order and Final Judgment, the district court also ordered the foreclosure of tax liens and sale of four properties owned by Jackson and his wife. Additionally, the district court ordered the United States to file a motion for approval of a proposed sale order consistent with the jury verdict and the district court’s findings. The United States filed the requested motion for order of sale, which the district court granted on September 9,

1 The Honorable Brian T. Fenimore, United States Bankruptcy Judge for the Western District of Missouri. 2 Jackson’s Notice of Appeal only lists the Order Denying Jackson’s Motion for Contempt and for Turnover of Personal Property, but he addresses both this order and the Order Granting the United States’ Motion to Annul Automatic Stay in his Appellate Brief and Reply. The United States also addresses both orders in its Appellee Brief. Liberally construing the appeal in favor of the pro se Debtor/Appellant, the Order Granting the United States’ Motion to Annul Automatic Stay is properly within the scope of Jackson’s appeal.

-2- 2019. 3 Jackson filed motions to amend or correct, to vacate the sale, to grant miscellaneous relief and other pleadings pro se. The district court denied the relief Jackson requested, and Jackson unsuccessfully appealed to the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals.

After a series of delays, the United States scheduled evictions for January 24, 2024, and the sale of the four properties for January 25, 2024. Jackson filed a pro se petition for bankruptcy relief under Chapter 13 of the Bankruptcy Code on January 23, 2024. The United States did not receive notice of the bankruptcy petition until after it completed the evictions of the four properties and seized personal property that remained at the eviction sites on January 24, 2024. After the United States learned about Jackson’s bankruptcy filing, it canceled the sale scheduled for January 25, 2024.

Jackson filed a motion for cont