Gary Sherwood Small v. United States

Decided April 26, 2005. Stephen Gerald Breyer delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 03-750 · 544 U.S. 385 (2005) · Cited 191 times

Holding

Section 922(g)(1)’s phrase “convicted in any court” encompasses only domestic, not foreign, convictions.

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 5–3.

“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.

• Nixon v. Missouri Municipal League · 541 U.S. 125 (2004)
• Beecham v. United States · 511 U.S. 368 (1994)
• United States v. Gonzales · 520 U.S. 1 (1997)
• Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Arabian American Oil Co. · 499 U.S. 244 (1991)
• Smith v. United States · 507 U.S. 197 (1993)
• Lewis v. United States · 445 U.S. 55 (1980)
• Foley Bros., Inc. v. Filardo · 336 U.S. 281 (1949)
• United States v. Alvarez-Sanchez · 511 U.S. 350 (1994)
• Koons Buick Pontiac GMC, Inc. v. Nigh · 543 U.S. 50 (2004)
• Atascadero State Hospital v. Scanlon · 473 U.S. 234 (1985)
• Middlesex County Sewerage Authority v. National Sea Clammers Assn. · 453 U.S. 1 (1981)
• Public Citizen v. United States Department of Justice · 491 U.S. 440 (1989)
• Flora v. United States · 362 U.S. 145 (1960)
• Deal v. United States · 508 U.S. 129 (1993)
• Bank of Columbia v. Okely · 17 U.S. 122 (1819)
• National Organization for Women, Inc. v. Scheidler · 510 U.S. 249 (1994)
• Dickerson v. New Banner Institute, Inc. · 460 U.S. 103 (1983)
• Huddleston v. United States · 415 U.S. 814 (1974)
• Department of Housing and Urban Development v. Rucker · 535 U.S. 125 (2002)
• Raygor v. Regents of the University of Minnesota · 534 U.S. 533 (2002)
• Sale v. Haitian Centers Council, Inc. · 509 U.S. 155 (1993)
• Brogan v. United States · 522 U.S. 398 (1998)

Cited by

Later Supreme Court opinions in our collection that cite this case.

• Home Depot U. S. A., Inc. v. Jackson · 587 U.S. 435 (2019)
• Ali v. Federal Bureau of Prisons · 552 U.S. 214 (2008)
• Lopez v. Gonzales · 549 U.S. 47 (2006)
• Kiobel v. Royal Dutch Petroleum Co. · 569 U.S. 108 (2013)
• Henderson v. United States · 575 U.S. 622 (2015)
• Spector v. Norwegian Cruise Line Ltd. · 545 U.S. 119 (2005)
• Morrison v. National Australia Bank Ltd. · 561 U.S. 247 (2010)
• Marx v. General Revenue Corp. · 568 U.S. 371 (2013)

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 (2005). 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).