Rehaif v. United States

Decided June 21, 2019. Stephen Gerald Breyer delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 17-9560 · 588 U.S. 225 (2019) · Cited 1,955 times

Holding

In a prosecution under 18 U. S. C. §922(g) and §924(a)(2), the Government must prove both that the defendant knew he possessed a firearm and that he knew he belonged to the relevant category of persons barred from possessing a firearm.

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.

“Concurring” means agreeing with the outcome; any split shown is the Court’s judgment, not each Justice’s reasoning. The lineup is the syllabus’s disposition of who wrote and joined each opinion. Source: the opinion’s syllabus (supremecourt.gov).

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)
• United States v. X-Citement Video, Inc. · 513 U.S. 64 (1994)
• Flores-Figueroa v. United States · 556 U.S. 646 (2009)
• Morissette v. United States · 342 U.S. 246 (1952)
• Liparota v. United States · 471 U.S. 419 (1985)
• United States v. Feola · 420 U.S. 671 (1975)
• Luna Torres v. Lynch · 578 U.S. 452 (2016)
• Old Chief v. United States · 519 U.S. 172 (1997)
• United States v. Balint · 258 U.S. 250 (1922)
• United States v. Castleman · 572 U.S. 157 (2014)
• Bousley v. United States · 523 U.S. 614 (1998)
• Cutter v. Wilkinson · 544 U.S. 709 (2005)
• United States v. Bailey · 444 U.S. 394 (1980)
• United States v. United States Gypsum Co. · 438 U.S. 422 (1978)
• Cheek v. United States · 498 U.S. 192 (1991)
• United States v. Dotterweich · 320 U.S. 277 (1943)
• Muscarello v. United States · 524 U.S. 125 (1998)
• United States v. Freed · 401 U.S. 601 (1971)
• United States v. Bishop · 412 U.S. 346 (1973)
• United States v. Hayes · 555 U.S. 415 (2009)
• Barrett v. United States · 423 U.S. 212 (1976)
• United States v. Yermian · 468 U.S. 63 (1984)
• Ryan v. Valencia Gonzales · 568 U.S. 57 (2013)
• Mathis v. United States · 579 U.S. 500 (2016)
• Elonis v. United States · 575 U.S. 723 (2015)
• Voisine v. United States · 579 U.S. 686 (2016)
• Helsinn Healthcare S. A. v. Teva Pharmaceuticals USA, Inc. · 586 U.S. 123 (2019)
• Thacker v. Tenn. Valley Auth. · 587 U.S. 218 (2019)

Official text

Read the official opinion (PDF, supremecourt.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 (2019). 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).