Delligatti v. United States

Decided March 21, 2025. Clarence Thomas delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 23-825 · 604 U.S. 423 (2025) · Cited 26 times

Holding

The knowing or intentional causation of injury or death, whether by act or omission, necessarily involves the “use” of “physical force” against another person within the meaning of 18 U. S. C. §924(c)(3)(A).

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 7–2.

“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.

• United States v. Castleman · 572 U.S. 157 (2014)
• Stokeling v. United States · 586 U.S. 73 (2019)
• Johnson v. United States · 559 U.S. 133 (2010)
• Borden v. United States · 593 U.S. 420 (2021)
• United States v. Taylor · 596 U.S. 845 (2022)
• United States v. Davis · 588 U.S. 445 (2019)
• Bailey v. United States · 516 U.S. 137 (1995)
• Leocal v. Ashcroft · 543 U.S. 1 (2004)
• Voisine v. United States · 579 U.S. 686 (2016)
• Burrage v. United States · 571 U.S. 204 (2014)
• Azar v. Allina Health Services · 587 U.S. 566 (2019)
• Astrue v. Ratliff · 560 U.S. 586 (2010)
• Morissette v. United States · 342 U.S. 246 (1952)
• United States v. Detroit Timber & Lumber Co. · 200 U.S. 321 (1906)
• Cruzan Ex Rel. Cruzan v. Director, Missouri Department of Health · 497 U.S. 261 (1990)
• Epic Systems Corp. v. Lewis · 584 U.S. 497 (2018)
• Facebook, Inc. v. Duguid · 592 U.S. 395 (2021)
• Bond v. United States · 572 U.S. 844 (2014)
• Dean v. United States · 581 U.S. 62 (2017)
• Sekhar v. United States · 570 U.S. 729 (2013)
• Bittner v. United States · 598 U.S. 85 (2023)
• Ysleta del Sur Pueblo v. Texas · 596 U.S. 685 (2022)
• Trinity Lutheran Church of Columbia, Inc. v. Comer · 582 U.S. 449 (2017)

Official text

Read the official opinion (PDF, supremecourt.gov)

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Clarence Thomas’s profile · All Supreme Court opinions · The Supreme Court

Source: Supreme Court of the United States, slip opinions (2025). 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).