In the case of Straton et al. v. New, Trustee in Bankruptcy, et al., 1930, the Supreme Court was tasked with determining whether a bankruptcy trustee could recover payments made by an insolvent debtor to its creditors within four months prior to filing for bankruptcy under Section 60b of the Bankruptcy Act. The court held that such payments were preferential and therefore voidable if they enabled any creditor to receive more than their fair share of the debtor's assets as compared with other creditors of the same class. This decision established important precedent regarding fraudulent conveyance and preference laws in U.S bankruptcy proceedings.

In the dissenting opinion for Straton et al. v. New, Trustee in Bankruptcy, et al., Justice Stone argued that the majority's decision to allow a trustee in bankruptcy to recover payments made by an insolvent debtor was not consistent with existing law or policy considerations. He contended that such transactions should only be voidable if they were fraudulent or preferential transfers intended to defeat other creditors' claims. In this case, he saw no evidence of fraud or preference and believed it was unjustifiable for innocent parties who had received payment in good faith and without knowledge of insolvency to suffer losses due to subsequent bankruptcy proceedings. Furthermore, he expressed concern about the potential negative impact on commercial transactions if businesses could not rely on receiving payment without fear of later having it reclaimed by a trustee in bankruptcy.