Document ID: ./input/supremecourt_opinions/opinions/21pdf/20-1410_1an2.pdf
Page Number: 13.0

Cite as:  597 U. S. ____ (2022) 

9 

Opinion of the Court 

made it “unlawful” for people with certain statuses (i.e., be-
ing a felon or being in the country unlawfully) to possess a 
gun.  Ibid.  We held that the first subsection’s “knowingly”
language applied to the status element in the second sub-
section.  Id.,  at  ___  (slip  op.,  at  5).    To  convict  under  the 
statute, then, the Government had to prove that a defend-
ant knew he had one of the listed statuses.  Ibid.  “Without 
knowledge of that status,” we reasoned, “the defendant may 
well lack the intent needed to make his behavior wrongful,”
because “[a]ssuming compliance with ordinary licensing re-
quirements,  the  possession  of  a  gun  can  be  entirely  inno-
cent.”  Id., at ___ (slip op., at 6). 

Like the statutes at issue in these cases, the statute here 
contains a scienter provision.  Section 841 states: “Except 
as  authorized  by  this  subchapter,  it  shall  be  unlawful  for 
any person knowingly or intentionally . . . to manufacture, 
distribute,  or  dispense  . . .  a  controlled  substance.”  (Em-
phasis  added.)  Like  those  three  cases,  the  question  here
concerns the mental state that applies to a statutory clause
(“[e]xcept as authorized”) that does not immediately follow 
the scienter provision.  Like the three cases, the statutory 
clause in question plays a critical role in separating a de-
fendant’s  wrongful  from  innocent  conduct.  And,  like  the 
Court in those cases, we conclude that the statute’s mens 
rea applies to that critical clause. 

III 
We are not convinced by the Government’s arguments to 
the  contrary.    First,  the  Government  correctly  points  out,
and  the  concurrence  emphasizes,  that  the  statutory  lan-
guage at issue in the cases we have just described set forth 
elements of the offense.  Here, the Government and the con-
currence say, the “except as authorized” clause does not set
forth an element.  See, e.g., post, at 4–7 (ALITO, J., concur-
ring in judgment).

The Government and the concurrence point to two ways