Keith Lavon Burgess v. United States

Decided April 16, 2008. Ruth Bader Ginsburg delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 06-11429 · 553 U.S. 124 (2008) · Cited 267 times

Holding

Because the term “felony drug offense” in § 841(b)(1)(A) is defined exclusively by § 802(44) and does not incorporate § 802(13)’s definition of “felony,” a state drug offense punishable by more than one year qualifies as a “felony drug offense,” even if state law classifies the offense as a misdemeanor.

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.

“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.

• Groman v. Commissioner · 302 U.S. 82 (1937)
• Colautti v. Franklin · 439 U.S. 379 (1979)
• Bifulco v. United States · 447 U.S. 381 (1980)
• United States v. Shabani · 513 U.S. 10 (1994)
• Callanan v. United States · 364 U.S. 587 (1961)
• Stenberg v. Carhart · 530 U.S. 914 (2000)

Cited by

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

• Christopher v. Smithkline Beecham Corp. · 567 U.S. 142 (2012)
• Shular v. United States · 589 U.S. 154 (2020)
• Tanzin v. Tanvir · 592 U.S. 43 (2020)
• Niz-Chavez v. Garland · 593 U.S. 155 (2021)
• Fowler v. United States · 563 U.S. 668 (2011)
• Brown v. United States · 602 U.S. 101 (2024)
• Kennedy v. Braidwood Management, Inc. · 606 U.S. 748 (2025)

Official text

Read the official opinion (U.S. Reports, govinfo.gov)

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Source: Supreme Court of the United States, slip opinions (2008). 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).