Greer v. United States

Greer v. United States, 593 U.S. ___ (2021), was a United States Supreme Court case in which the Court held that an unobjected-to failure to instruct the jury that the defendant must have known they were a felon is not structural error requiring reversal. Moreover, it would be difficult to show plain error because "convicted felons ordinarily know that they are convicted felons."[1][2] The case was consolidated with United States v. Gary; Sotomayor dissented to the court's assessment of Gary.[2]

Greer v. United States
Decided June 14, 2021
Full case nameGreer v. United States
Citations593 U.S. ___ (more)
Holding
An unobjected-to failure to instruct the jury that the defendant must have known they were a felon is not structural error requiring reversal. Moreover, it would be difficult to show plain error because "convicted felons ordinarily know that they are convicted felons."
Court membership
Chief Justice
John Roberts
Associate Justices
Clarence Thomas · Stephen Breyer
Samuel Alito · Sonia Sotomayor
Elena Kagan · Neil Gorsuch
Brett Kavanaugh · Amy Coney Barrett
Case opinions
MajorityKavanaugh
Concur/dissentSotomayor

References

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  1. ^ Greer v. United States, 593 U.S. ___ (2021)
  2. ^ a b Little, Rory K. (2022). "Annual Review of the U.S. Supreme Court's Criminal Law Cases". The State of Criminal Justice: 2022. American Bar Association: Criminal Justice Section. p. 30-31.
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