Clarification/Follow-up by stevehaddock on 12/21/03 2:01 pm:
You can file more than once, but the second time, the bankruptcy is usually conditional. The first time, a bankruptcy is usually given with no strings attached, or with very easy terms. Courts are stricter the second time around, and indeed the law says that you can't get a discharge without conditions on a second, or subsequent, bankruptcy proceeding. That often means people are stuck in bankruptcy for the rest of their natural lives, because judges aren't above imposing conditions that are effectively impossible to meet.