United States v. Martin O'Brien and Arthur Burgess

Decided May 24, 2010. Anthony McLeod Kennedy delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 08-1569 · 560 U.S. 218 (2010) · Cited 235 times

Holding

The fact that a firearm was a machinegun is an element to be proved to the jury beyond a reasonable doubt, not a sentencing factor to be proved to the judge at sentencing.

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.

• Castillo v. United States · 530 U.S. 120 (2000)
• Harris v. United States · 536 U.S. 545 (2002)
• McMillan v. Pennsylvania · 477 U.S. 79 (1986)
• Apprendi v. New Jersey · 530 U.S. 466 (2000)
• Jones v. United States · 526 U.S. 227 (1999)
• Bailey v. United States · 516 U.S. 137 (1995)
• In Re WINSHIP · 397 U.S. 358 (1970)
• Almendarez-Torres v. United States · 523 U.S. 224 (1998)
• Grogan v. Garner · 498 U.S. 279 (1991)
• Dean v. United States · 556 U.S. 568 (2009)
• Hamling v. United States · 418 U.S. 87 (1974)
• United States v. Booker · 543 U.S. 220 (2005)
• Blakely v. Washington · 542 U.S. 296 (2004)
• Rodriguez De Quijas v. Shearson/American Express, Inc. · 490 U.S. 477 (1989)
• United States v. Detroit Timber & Lumber Co. · 200 U.S. 321 (1906)
• Rivers v. Roadway Express, Inc. · 511 U.S. 298 (1994)

Cited by

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

• Welch v. United States · 578 U.S. 120 (2016)
• Abbott v. United States · 562 U.S. 8 (2010)
• Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha Ltd. v. Regal-Beloit Corp. · 561 U.S. 89 (2010)

Official text

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

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Source: Supreme Court of the United States, slip opinions (2010). 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).