In the 1992 case of Peter C. Reiter, et al. v. Langdon M. Cooper, Trustee for Carolina Motor Express, Inc., et al., the U.S Supreme Court addressed a dispute over bankruptcy law and its application to certain types of property interests held by debtors in Chapter 11 proceedings. The court had to decide whether unpaid rent that accrued before a debtor filed for bankruptcy could be treated as an administrative expense under Section 503(b) of the Bankruptcy Code or if it should be classified as pre-petition debt subject to discharge under Section 502(b). In this case, Reiter was leasing property from Carolina Motor Express (CME), which declared bankruptcy while owing him back rent payments. The trustee argued these arrears were not administrative expenses but rather pre-petition debts that could be discharged during bankruptcy proceedings; however, Reiter disagreed and took his claim all the way up to the Supreme Court after losing at lower levels. The Supreme Court ruled in favor of CME's trustee stating that such rental arrears do not qualify as actual necessary costs and expenses incurred post-bankruptcy filing hence cannot be considered administrative expenses according to section 503(b)(1)(A) but are instead categorized as unsecured claims against estate assets.

In the dissenting opinion for Peter C. Reiter, et al. v. Langdon M. Cooper, Trustee for Carolina Motor Express, Inc., et al., Justice Thomas disagreed with the majority's interpretation of Section 546(c) of the Bankruptcy Code that allows a seller to reclaim goods sold on credit if certain conditions are met. He argued that this provision should not be interpreted as an exception to the trustee's strong-arm powers under Section 544(a). Instead, he believed it was meant to protect sellers from buyers who become insolvent shortly after receiving goods but before payment is made - essentially serving as a form of insurance against buyer insolvency rather than creating any new rights or priorities in bankruptcy proceedings beyond those already established by state law and other provisions of federal law.