United States v. Bass

Decided December 20, 1971. Thurgood Marshall delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 70-71 · 404 U.S. 336 (1971) · Cited 1,739 times

Holding

It is not clear from the language and legislative history of 1202(a)(1) whether or not receipt or possession of a firearm by a convicted felon has to be shown in an individual prosecution to have been connected with interstate commerce.

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 5–2.

“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.

• Rewis v. United States · 401 U.S. 808 (1971)
• Tot v. United States · 319 U.S. 463 (1943)
• United States v. Five Gambling Devices · 346 U.S. 441 (1953)
• Younger v. Harris · 401 U.S. 37 (1971)
• Universal Camera Corp. v. National Labor Relations Board · 340 U.S. 474 (1951)
• Bell v. United States · 349 U.S. 81 (1955)
• Apex Hosiery Co. v. Leader · 310 U.S. 469 (1940)
• United States v. Universal C. I. T. Credit Corp. · 344 U.S. 218 (1952)
• Perez v. United States · 402 U.S. 146 (1971)
• Ladner v. United States · 358 U.S. 169 (1958)
• United States v. Fisher · 6 U.S. 358 (1805)
• McBoyle v. United States · 283 U.S. 25 (1931)
• Federal Trade Commission v. Mandel Bros. · 359 U.S. 385 (1959)
• Leiter Minerals, Inc. v. United States · 352 U.S. 220 (1957)
• Federal Trade Commission v. Bunte Bros. · 312 U.S. 349 (1941)
• United States v. Bramblett · 348 U.S. 503 (1955)
• Porto Rico Railway, Light & Power Co. v. Mor · 253 U.S. 345 (1920)
• United Automobile, Aircraft & Agricultural Implement Workers of America v. Wisconsin Employment Relations Board · 351 U.S. 266 (1956)
• Palmer v. Massachusetts · 308 U.S. 79 (1939)
• United States v. Gradwell · 243 U.S. 476 (1917)
• United States v. Cardiff · 344 U.S. 174 (1952)

Cited by

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

• Bond v. United States · 572 U.S. 844 (2014)
• Scarborough v. United States · 431 U.S. 563 (1977)
• Lockhart v. United States · 577 U.S. 347 (2016)
• United States v. Lopez · 514 U.S. 549 (1995)
• Barrett v. United States · 423 U.S. 212 (1976)
• Huddleston v. United States · 415 U.S. 814 (1974)
• United States v. RLC · 503 U.S. 291 (1992)
• Lewis v. United States · 445 U.S. 55 (1980)
• United States v. Batchelder · 442 U.S. 114 (1979)
• Dickerson v. New Banner Institute, Inc. · 460 U.S. 103 (1983)
• Will v. Michigan Department of State Police · 491 U.S. 58 (1989)
• James v. United States · 550 U.S. 192 (2007)
• Ball v. United States · 470 U.S. 856 (1985)
• Muscarello v. United States · 524 U.S. 125 (1998)
• United States v. Santos · 553 U.S. 507 (2008)
• Jones v. United States · 529 U.S. 848 (2000)
• United States v. Granderson · 511 U.S. 39 (1994)
• Dowling v. United States · 473 U.S. 207 (1985)
• Seminole Tribe of Florida v. Florida · 517 U.S. 44 (1996)
• Kimel v. Florida Board of Regents · 528 U.S. 62 (2000)
• Smith v. United States · 508 U.S. 223 (1993)
• Liparota v. United States · 471 U.S. 419 (1985)
• Moskal v. United States · 498 U.S. 103 (1990)
• Bryan v. United States · 524 U.S. 184 (1998)
• Jama v. Immigration and Customs Enforcement · 543 U.S. 335 (2005)
• Anderson v. United States · 417 U.S. 211 (1974)
• Evans v. United States · 504 U.S. 255 (1992)
• Raygor v. Regents of the University of Minnesota · 534 U.S. 533 (2002)
• Bowen v. American Hospital Assn. · 476 U.S. 610 (1986)
• United States v. Rodriquez · 553 U.S. 377 (2008)

Official text

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

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Source: Supreme Court of the United States, slip opinions (1971). 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).