In the 1999 case of Cornell Johnson v. United States, the Supreme Court ruled that a conviction under state law for assault with intent to commit rape is considered a violent felony under the Armed Career Criminal Act (ACCA). The ACCA imposes mandatory minimum sentences on federal defendants who have three previous convictions for serious drug offenses or violent felonies. Johnson had been convicted in Michigan and was later found guilty of being a felon in possession of a firearm. He argued that his prior conviction should not be counted as one of his three strikes because it did not involve physical force against another person, which he believed was necessary to qualify as a violent felony under ACCA. However, the court disagreed and held that an attempted rape inherently involves conduct presenting serious potential risk of physical injury to another.

In the dissenting opinion for Cornell Johnson v. United States, Justice Ginsburg argued that the majority's interpretation of "felony drug offense" was too broad and inconsistent with Congress' intent in drafting 21 U.S.C §841(b)(1)(A). She contended that a felony drug offense should be defined as an offense punishable by more than one year under either state or federal law, not just federal law. This would mean considering whether a crime is classified as a misdemeanor or felony at the state level rather than automatically categorizing it based on its potential punishment under federal standards. In her view, this approach better aligns with principles of federalism and respect for states' rights to define their own criminal laws. Furthermore, she expressed concern about disproportionately severe sentences resulting from the majority's interpretation.