Sheldon Baruch Toibb v. Stuart J. Radloff

Decided June 13, 1991. Harry Andrew Blackmun delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 90-368 · 501 U.S. 157 (1991) · Cited 500 times

Holding

The Bankruptcy Code's plain language permits individual debtors not engaged in business to file for relief under Chapter 11.

The Court’s statement of the holding, from the opinion’s syllabus. The syllabus is prepared by the Reporter of Decisions and is not part of the opinion of the Court — read the official opinion for authority.

How the Justices voted

Decided 8–1.

“Concurring” means agreeing with the outcome; any split shown is the Court’s judgment, not each Justice’s reasoning. Source: the Supreme Court Database (Spaeth et al.), Washington University.

Precedents cited

Supreme Court decisions this opinion relies on, ordered by how often it cites each. Cases in our collection link through; others are named.

• Blum v. Stenson · 465 U.S. 886 (1984)
• Consumer Product Safety Commission v. GTE Sylvania, Inc. · 447 U.S. 102 (1980)
• Commodity Futures Trading Commission v. Weintraub · 471 U.S. 343 (1985)

Cited by

Later Supreme Court opinions in our collection that cite this case.

• Florida Department of Revenue v. Piccadilly Cafeterias, Inc. · 554 U.S. 33 (2008)
• Czyzewski v. Jevic Holding Corp. · 580 U.S. 451 (2017)
• Puerto Rico v. Franklin California Tax-Free Trust · 579 U.S. 115 (2016)
• Patterson v. Shumate · 504 U.S. 753 (1992)
• Barnhill v. Johnson · 503 U.S. 393 (1992)
• Cardinal Chemical Co. v. Morton International, Inc. · 508 U.S. 83 (1993)
• Union Bank v. Wolas · 502 U.S. 151 (1991)
• Bank of America National Trust & Savings Ass'n v. 203 North LaSalle Street Partnership · 526 U.S. 434 (1999)

Official text

Read the official opinion (U.S. Reports, govinfo.gov)

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Harry Andrew Blackmun’s profile · All Supreme Court opinions · The Supreme Court

Source: Supreme Court of the United States, slip opinions (1991). Citation count from the Free Law Project’s CourtListener bulk data. Data last verified 2026-07-03. Informational only; verify against the primary source before relying. Not a consumer report (FCRA).