A vacated judgment (also known as vacatur relief) is a
legal judgment
In law, a judgment is a decision of a court regarding the rights and liabilities of parties in a legal action or proceeding. Judgments also generally provide the court's explanation of why it has chosen to make a particular court order.''Black’ ...
that legally
voids
Void may refer to:
Science, engineering, and technology
* Void (astronomy), the spaces between galaxy filaments that contain no galaxies
* Void (composites), a pore that remains unoccupied in a composite material
* Void, synonym for vacuum, ...
a previous legal judgment. A vacated judgment is usually the result of the judgment of an
appellate court
An appellate court, commonly called a court of appeal(s), appeal court, court of second instance or second instance court, is any court of law that is empowered to hear a case upon appeal from a trial court or other lower tribunal. Appel ...
, which overturns, reverses, or sets aside the judgment of a lower court. An
appellate court
An appellate court, commonly called a court of appeal(s), appeal court, court of second instance or second instance court, is any court of law that is empowered to hear a case upon appeal from a trial court or other lower tribunal. Appel ...
may also vacate its own decisions. Rules of procedure may allow vacatur either at the request of a party (a motion to vacate) or ''
sua sponte
In law, ''sua sponte'' (Latin: "of his, her, its, or their own accord") or ''suo motu/suo moto'' ("on its own motion") describes an act of authority taken without formal prompting by another party. The term is usually applied to actions taken by a ...
'' (at the court's initiative).
A vacated judgment may free the parties to
civil litigation
Civil law is a major "branch of the law", in common law legal systems such as those in England and Wales and in the United States, where it stands in contrast to criminal law. Glanville Williams. ''Learning the Law''. Eleventh Edition. Stevens. 1 ...
to re-litigate the issues subject to the vacated judgment.
Another means of having a vacated judgment would be if the defendant dies prior to all appeals being exhausted. Notable defendants having their convictions vacated under this include
Kenneth Lay
Kenneth Lee Lay (April 15, 1942 – July 5, 2006) was an American businessman and political donor who was the founder, chief executive officer and chairman of Enron. He was heavily involved in Enron scandal, Enron's accounting scandal that unr ...
, the former chairman and CEO of
Enron
Enron Corporation was an American Energy development, energy, Commodity, commodities, and services company based in Houston, Texas. It was led by Kenneth Lay and developed in 1985 via a merger between Houston Natural Gas and InterNorth, both re ...
who died before sentencing, and
Aaron Hernandez
Aaron Josef Hernandez (November 6, 1989 – April 19, 2017) was an American professional American football, football player who was a tight end in the National Football League (NFL). He played three seasons with the New England Patriots until h ...
, a former football player who killed himself in jail before his appeals were exhausted. In the latter case, the vacatur was itself later overturned.
United States
"Relief from judgment" of a
United States District Court
The United States district courts are the trial courts of the United States federal judiciary, U.S. federal judiciary. There is one district court for each United States federal judicial district, federal judicial district. Each district cov ...
is governed by Rule 60 of the
Federal Rules of Civil Procedure
The Federal Rules of Civil Procedure (officially abbreviated Fed. R. Civ. P.; colloquially FRCP) govern civil procedure in United States district courts. They are the companion to the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure. Rules promulgated by the ...
.
[Federal Rules of Civil Procedure]
(Dec. 1, 2012) The
United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit
The United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit (in case citations, 7th Cir.) is the U.S. United States federal court, federal court with appellate jurisdiction over the United States district court, courts in the following United Stat ...
has noted that a vacated judgment "place
the parties in the position of no trial having taken place at all; thus a vacated judgment is of no further force or effect."
[''United States v. Williams'']
904 F.2d 7, 8 (7th Cir. 1990) (citations removed).
One form of a vacatur in the United States legal system was established by ''United States v. Munsingwear, Inc.'' , otherwise known as the ''Munsingwear'' vacatur. This approach is used when while a case is being held on appeal, whether at the Circuit Court or Supreme Court level, underlying factors make the case moot. The higher court will vacate the lower court's ruling, send the case back to the lower court, and have them render the case moot. Certain conditions must be met before the higher court can give a ''Munsingwear'' vacatur, generally allowing this vacatur to be used in three situations: in the matter of "happenstance" (such as the death of a litigant), through a settlement of the parties, or a unilateral action by the prevailing party in the lower court.
See also
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References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Vacated Judgment
Judgment (law)
Civil procedure