United States v. Ahmed Ressam
553 U.S. 272 · Decided May 19, 2008 · Supreme Court of the United States
Record summary. This page is generated from the Supreme Court Database’s coded data about the case. It describes who decided what, not the Court’s reasoning. Read the opinion itself before relying on it. Not legal advice.
At a glance
United States v. Ahmed Ressam was decided on May 19, 2008 by a vote of 8–1. The Court reversed the lower court's decision. Justice John Paul Stevens wrote the opinion of the Court. SCDB classifies its main issue as “Statutory construction of criminal laws, firearms” in the Criminal Procedure area.
Read the opinion
Case details
- Citations
- 553 U.S. 272 · 128 S. Ct. 1858 · 170 L. Ed. 2d 640 · 2008 U.S. LEXIS 4316
- Docket number
- 07-455
- Decided
- May 19, 2008
- Argued
- March 25, 2008
- Court era
- Roberts Court
- Decision type
- Opinion of the Court (orally argued)
- Disposition
- Reversed
- Outcome for petitioner
- The petitioning party received a favorable disposition
- Vote
- 8–1
- Majority opinion
- John Paul Stevens
- Opinion assigned by
- John G. Roberts Jr.
- How the case arrived
- Certiorari
- Issue area
- Criminal Procedure
- Legal provision
- Federal crime control and firearms statutes
- Type of law
- Federal statute
- Decision direction (SCDB)
- Conservative what this means
How the Justices voted
| Justice | Vote | Separate writing |
|---|---|---|
| Justice John Paul Stevens | Majority | Wrote an opinion |
| Justice Antonin Scalia | Special concurrence | Wrote an opinion |
| Justice Anthony M. Kennedy | Majority | |
| Justice David H. Souter | Majority | |
| Justice Clarence Thomas | Special concurrence | Wrote an opinion |
| Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg | Majority | |
| Justice Stephen G. Breyer | Dissent | Wrote an opinion |
| Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. | Majority | |
| Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr. | Majority |
Full case caption
United States v. Ahmed Ressam
SCDB identifiers: case 2007-037, docket 2007-037-01.
Related decisions
Other cases on “Statutory construction of criminal laws, firearms”
- United States v. Randy Edward Hayes
- United States v. Martin O'Brien and Arthur Burgess
- Gary Sherwood Small v. United States
- Henderson v. United States
- Caetano v. Massachusetts
- Jaime Castillo v. United States
Cases on the same legal provision: Federal crime control and firearms statutes
- Kevin Abbott v. United States
- Josue Leocal v. John D. Ashcroft
- United States v. Thomas Lamar Bean
- Dewey J. Jones v. United States
- Dahda v. United States
- United States v. Ojeda Rios
Same Term, same area (Criminal Procedure)
- James D. Logan v. United States
- Brian Michael Gall v. United States
- Michael A. Watson v. United States
- Derrick Kimbrough v. United States
- Randall Wright v. Joseph L. Van Patten
- Stephen Danforth v. Minnesota
Source: Supreme Court Database, 2026 Release 01 (data file dated September 8, 2026). Imported into CaseTrail November 5, 2026. Coverage: decisions from the 1946 through 2025 Terms. Methodology · Report an error