Mellouli v. Lynch
Decided June 1, 2015. Ruth Bader Ginsburg delivered the opinion of the Court.
Docket 13-1034 · 575 U.S. 798 (2015) · Cited 301 times
Holding
Mellouli's Kansas conviction for concealing unnamed pills in his sock did not trigger removal under § 1227(a)(2)(B)(i).
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 7–2.
Majority · 7
- Ruth Bader Ginsburg · delivered the opinion of the Court
- Anthony McLeod Kennedy
- Antonin Scalia
- Elena Kagan
- John Glover Roberts Jr.
- Sonia Sotomayor
- Stephen Gerald Breyer
Dissenting · 2
- Clarence Thomas · filed a dissenting opinion
- Samuel A. Alito Jr.
“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.
- Moncrieffe v. Holder · 569 U.S. 184 (2013)
- Nijhawan v. Holder · 557 U.S. 29 (2009)
- New York State Conference of Blue Cross & Blue Shield Plans v. Travelers Insurance · 514 U.S. 645 (1995)
- Maracich v. Spears · 570 U.S. 48 (2013)
- Chevron U. S. A. Inc. v. Natural Resources Defense Council, Inc. · 467 U.S. 837 (1984)
- Russello v. United States · 464 U.S. 16 (1983)
- Food & Drug Administration v. Brown & Williamson Tobacco Corp. · 529 U.S. 120 (2000)
- Morales v. Trans World Airlines, Inc. · 504 U.S. 374 (1992)
- California Division of Labor Standards Enforcement v. Dillingham Construction, N. A. · 519 U.S. 316 (1997)
- Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation v. Environmental Protection Agency · 540 U.S. 461 (2004)
Cited by
Later Supreme Court opinions in our collection that cite this case.
- Pereida v. Wilkinson · 592 U.S. 224 (2021)
- Esquivel-Quintana v. Sessions · 581 U.S. 385 (2017)
- Pugin v. Garland · 599 U.S. 600 (2023)
Official text
Read the official opinion (U.S. Reports, govinfo.gov)
Explore from here
Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s profile · All Supreme Court opinions · The Supreme Court
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).