Where federal law treats certain conduct as a misdemeanor, and state law treats that same conduct as a felony, does that conduct constitute an "aggravated felony" or not? To answer this question, the Court had to parse the phrase "any felony punishable under the Controlled Substances Act."
Where federal law classifies certain actions as a misdemeanor, while state law considers them a felony, does that behavior qualify as an "aggravated felony"? To resolve this inquiry, the Court needed to interpret the phrase "any felony punishable under the Controlled Substances Act."