Brown v. United States

Decided May 23, 2024. Samuel A. Alito Jr. delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 22-6389 · 602 U.S. 101 (2024) · Cited 37 times

Holding

For purposes of the Armed Career Criminal Act’s 15-year mandatory minimum sentence on certain defendants with three or more previous convictions, a state drug conviction counts as an ACCA predicate if it involved a drug on the federal schedules at the time of that offense.

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 6–3.

“Concurring” means agreeing with the outcome; any split shown is the Court’s judgment, not each Justice’s reasoning. The lineup is the syllabus’s disposition of who wrote and joined each opinion. Source: the opinion’s syllabus (supremecourt.gov).

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.

• McNeill v. United States · 563 U.S. 816 (2011)
• Shular v. United States · 589 U.S. 154 (2020)
• Brown v. Gardner · 513 U.S. 115 (1994)
• Jam v. International Finance Corp. · 586 U.S. 199 (2019)
• Taylor v. United States · 495 U.S. 575 (1990)
• Mathis v. United States · 579 U.S. 500 (2016)
• Wooden v. United States · 595 U.S. 360 (2022)
• Landgraf v. USI Film Products · 511 U.S. 244 (1994)
• Dorsey v. United States · 567 U.S. 260 (2012)
• Begay v. United States · 553 U.S. 137 (2008)
• Holder v. Humanitarian Law Project · 561 U.S. 1 (2010)
• United States v. Castleman · 572 U.S. 157 (2014)
• Carachuri-Rosendo v. Holder · 560 U.S. 563 (2010)
• Wisconsin Central Ltd. v. United States · 585 U.S. 274 (2018)
• Carr v. United States · 560 U.S. 438 (2010)
• Yellen v. Confederated Tribes of Chehalis Reservation · 594 U.S. 338 (2021)
• United States v. Wilson · 503 U.S. 329 (1992)
• United States v. Detroit Timber & Lumber Co. · 200 U.S. 321 (1906)
• Ratzlaf v. United States · 510 U.S. 135 (1994)
• Gwaltney of Smithfield, Ltd. v. Chesapeake Bay Foundation, Inc. · 484 U.S. 49 (1987)
• Clark v. Martinez · 543 U.S. 371 (2005)
• Henson v. Santander Consumer USA Inc. · 582 U.S. 79 (2017)
• Flores-Figueroa v. United States · 556 U.S. 646 (2009)
• Panama Railroad v. Johnson · 264 U.S. 375 (1924)
• Hassett v. Welch · 303 U.S. 303 (1938)
• Johnson v. United States · 544 U.S. 295 (2005)
• Barber v. Thomas · 560 U.S. 474 (2010)
• Burgess v. United States · 553 U.S. 124 (2008)
• United States v. Rodriquez · 553 U.S. 377 (2008)
• Ocasio v. United States · 578 U.S. 282 (2016)

Official text

Read the official opinion (PDF, supremecourt.gov)

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Source: Supreme Court of the United States, slip opinions (2024). Citation count from the Free Law Project’s CourtListener bulk data. Data last verified 2026-08-15. Informational only; verify against the primary source before relying. Not a consumer report (FCRA).