Jose Angel Carachuri-Rosendo v. Eric H. Holder, Jr., Attorney General
Decided June 14, 2010. John Paul Stevens delivered the opinion of the Court.
Docket 09-60 · 560 U.S. 563 (2010) · Cited 443 times
Holding
Second or subsequent simple possession offenses are not aggravated felonies under § 1101(a)(43) when, as in this case, the state conviction is not based on the fact of a prior conviction.
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
- John Paul Stevens · delivered the opinion of the Court
- Anthony McLeod Kennedy
- John Glover Roberts Jr.
- Ruth Bader Ginsburg
- Samuel A. Alito Jr.
- Sonia Sotomayor
- Stephen Gerald Breyer
Concurring · 2
- Antonin Scalia · filed a concurring opinion
- Clarence Thomas · 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.
- Lopez v. Gonzales · 549 U.S. 47 (2006)
- United States v. Rodriquez · 553 U.S. 377 (2008)
- Almendarez-Torres v. United States · 523 U.S. 224 (1998)
- Nijhawan v. Holder · 557 U.S. 29 (2009)
- Leocal v. Ashcroft · 543 U.S. 1 (2004)
- United States v. Detroit Timber & Lumber Co. · 200 U.S. 321 (1906)
- United States v. LaBonte · 520 U.S. 751 (1997)
Cited by
Later Supreme Court opinions in our collection that cite this case.
- Moncrieffe v. Holder · 569 U.S. 184 (2013)
- Luna Torres v. Lynch · 578 U.S. 452 (2016)
- Dubin v. United States · 599 U.S. 110 (2023)
- Mathis v. United States · 579 U.S. 500 (2016)
- Esquivel-Quintana v. Sessions · 581 U.S. 385 (2017)
- Pugin v. Garland · 599 U.S. 600 (2023)
- Descamps v. United States · 570 U.S. 254 (2013)
- Pereida v. Wilkinson · 592 U.S. 224 (2021)
- Brown v. United States · 602 U.S. 101 (2024)
Official text
Read the official opinion (U.S. Reports, govinfo.gov)
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John Paul Stevens’s profile · All Supreme Court opinions · The Supreme Court
Source: Supreme Court of the United States, slip opinions (2010). 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).