McFadden v. United States
Decided June 18, 2015. Clarence Thomas delivered the opinion of the Court.
Docket 14-378 · 576 U.S. 186 (2015) · Cited 243 times
Holding
When a controlled substance is an analogue, § 841(a)(1) requires the Government to establish that the defendant knew he was dealing with a substance regulated under the Controlled Substances Act (CSA) or the Analogue Act.
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 · 8
- Clarence Thomas · delivered the opinion of the Court
- Anthony McLeod Kennedy
- Antonin Scalia
- Elena Kagan
- Ruth Bader Ginsburg
- Samuel A. Alito Jr.
- Sonia Sotomayor
- Stephen Gerald Breyer
Concurring · 1
- John Glover Roberts 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.
- Staples v. United States · 511 U.S. 600 (1994)
- Flores-Figueroa v. United States · 556 U.S. 646 (2009)
- Liparota v. United States · 471 U.S. 419 (1985)
- Neder v. United States · 527 U.S. 1 (1999)
- United States v. Detroit Timber & Lumber Co. · 200 U.S. 321 (1906)
- Bryan v. United States · 524 U.S. 184 (1998)
- Gonzales v. Carhart · 550 U.S. 124 (2007)
Official text
Read the official opinion (U.S. Reports, govinfo.gov)
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Source: Supreme Court of the United States, slip opinions (2015). 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).