Bais Din v. Congregation Birchos Yosef, 699 F. App'x 91

Congregation Birchos Yosef (debtor) filed bankruptcy; the automatic stay under 11 U.S.C. § 362(a) went into effect.
Certain defendants in adversary proceedings continued or initiated proceedings before the Bais Din (a rabbinical court) after the stay began.
The bankruptcy court found those defendants violated the automatic stay, held them in contempt, and declared Bais Din decrees issued in furtherance of those prohibited proceedings void ab initio.
The Bais Din, not a party to the adversary proceeding, appealed the bankruptcy court’s order to the district court, arguing Free Exercise Clause and RFRA violations.
The district court dismissed the Bais Din’s appeal for lack of standing; the Bais Din appealed that dismissal to the Second Circuit.
The Second Circuit affirmed, holding the Bais Din failed to show the pecuniary (Article III) injury required to have appellate standing in bankruptcy appeals.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether Bais Din has appellate standing to challenge bankruptcy court order	Bais Din claimed its religious exercise was burdened (Free Exercise, RFRA) by the stay preventing it from issuing notices/decrees	District court/defendant argued Bais Din lacked Article III standing because it suffered no pecuniary injury and did not qualify as a person aggrieved	Held: No standing — Bais Din failed to show pecuniary harm; non-pecuniary claim does not satisfy bankruptcy appellate standing and alternative relief exists (civil suit)
Whether alternative theories of standing may be considered on appeal	Bais Din raised other standing theories on appeal	Appellee argued those theories were forfeited for not being raised below	Held: Forfeited — appellate court declined to consider new standing theories raised for first time on appeal

Liranzo v. United States, 690 F.3d 78 (2d Cir. 2012) (standard of review for dismissal for lack of subject-matter jurisdiction: factual findings for clear error, legal conclusions de novo)
Lujan v. Defenders of Wildlife, 504 U.S. 555 (U.S. 1992) (plaintiff bears burden to establish Article III standing)
DISH Network Corp. v. DBSD N. Am., Inc. (In re DBSD N. Am., Inc.), 634 F.3d 79 (2d Cir. 2011) (adopted the ‘‘person aggrieved’’/piecuniary-harm rule for bankruptcy appellate standing)
Int’l Trade Admin. v. Rensselaer Polytechnic Inst., 936 F.2d 744 (2d Cir. 1991) (formulation of ‘‘person aggrieved’’ standard in bankruptcy appeals)
Kane v. Johns-Manville Corp., 843 F.2d 636 (2d Cir. 1988) (explaining need to limit appellate standing to avoid endless appeals in bankruptcy)
Bogle-Assegai v. Connecticut, 470 F.3d 498 (2d Cir. 2006) (issues not raised below are forfeited on appeal)