Deondery Chambers v. United States
Decided January 13, 2009. Stephen Gerald Breyer delivered the opinion of the Court.
Docket 06-11206 · 555 U.S. 122 (2009) · Cited 627 times
Holding
Illinois’ crime of failure to report for penal confinement falls outside the scope of ACCA’s “violent felony” definition.
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 9–0.
Majority · 7
- Stephen Gerald Breyer · delivered the opinion of the Court
- Anthony McLeod Kennedy
- Antonin Scalia
- David Hackett Souter
- John Glover Roberts Jr.
- John Paul Stevens
- Ruth Bader Ginsburg
Concurring · 2
- Clarence Thomas
- Samuel A. Alito Jr. · filed a concurring opinion
“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.
- Taylor v. United States · 495 U.S. 575 (1990)
- Begay v. United States · 553 U.S. 137 (2008)
- Shepard v. United States · 544 U.S. 13 (2005)
- James v. United States · 550 U.S. 192 (2007)
- McMillan v. Pennsylvania · 477 U.S. 79 (1986)
- United States v. Detroit Timber & Lumber Co. · 200 U.S. 321 (1906)
- John R. Sand & Gravel Co. v. United States · 552 U.S. 130 (2008)
Cited by
Later Supreme Court opinions in our collection that cite this case.
- Johnson v. United States · 576 U.S. 591 (2015)
- Mathis v. United States · 579 U.S. 500 (2016)
- Sessions v. Dimaya · 584 U.S. 148 (2018)
- Nijhawan v. Holder · 557 U.S. 29 (2009)
- United States v. Davis · 588 U.S. 445 (2019)
- Welch v. United States · 578 U.S. 120 (2016)
- Moncrieffe v. Holder · 569 U.S. 184 (2013)
- Beckles v. United States · 580 U.S. 256 (2017)
Official text
Read the official opinion (U.S. Reports, govinfo.gov)
Explore from here
Stephen Gerald Breyer’s profile · All Supreme Court opinions · The Supreme Court
Source: Supreme Court of the United States, slip opinions (2009). 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).