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A vacated judgment (also known as vacatur relief) makes a previous
legal judgment In law, a judgment, also spelled judgement, 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 particula ...
legally void. A vacated judgment is usually the result of the judgment of an
appellate court A court of appeals, also called a court of appeal, appellate court, appeal court, court of second instance or second instance court, is any court of law that is empowered to hear an appeal of a trial court or other lower tribunal. In much of ...
, which overturns, reverses, or sets aside the judgment of a lower court. An
appellate court A court of appeals, also called a court of appeal, appellate court, appeal court, court of second instance or second instance court, is any court of law that is empowered to hear an appeal of a trial court or other lower tribunal. In much of ...
may also vacate its own decisions. A
trial court A trial court or court of first instance is a court having original jurisdiction, in which trials take place. Appeals from the decisions of trial courts are usually made by higher courts with the power of appellate review (appellate courts). Mos ...
may have the power under certain circumstances, usually involving
fraud In law, fraud is intentional deception to secure unfair or unlawful gain, or to deprive a victim of a legal right. Fraud can violate civil law (e.g., a fraud victim may sue the fraud perpetrator to avoid the fraud or recover monetary compen ...
or lack of jurisdiction over the parties to a case, to vacate its own judgments. A vacated judgment may free the parties to
civil litigation Civil law is a major branch of the law.Glanville Williams. '' Learning the Law''. Eleventh Edition. Stevens. 1982. p. 2. In common law legal systems such as England and Wales and the United States, the term refers to non-criminal law. The law ...
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 who was the founder, chief executive officer and chairman of Enron. He was heavily involved in the eponymous accounting scandal that unraveled in 2001 into the large ...
, the former Chairman and CEO of
Enron Enron Corporation was an American energy, commodities, and services company based in Houston, Texas. It was founded by Kenneth Lay in 1985 as a merger between Lay's Houston Natural Gas and InterNorth, both relatively small regional compani ...
who died before sentencing, and
Aaron Hernandez Aaron Josef Hernandez (November 6, 1989 April 19, 2017) was an American football tight end. He played in the National Football League (NFL) for three seasons with the New England Patriots until his career came to an abrupt end after his arrest ...
, a former football player who killed himself in jail before his appeals were exhausted. In March 2019, the vacated conviction of Hernandez was itself overturned, and his murder conviction upheld. On June 30, 2021, the
Pennsylvania Supreme Court The Supreme Court of Pennsylvania is the highest court in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania's Unified Judicial System. It also claims to be the oldest appellate court in the United States, a claim that is disputed by the Massachusetts Supreme Ju ...
vacated the sexual assault charges against
Bill Cosby William Henry Cosby Jr. ( ; born July 12, 1937) is an American stand-up comedian, actor, and media personality. He made significant contributions to American and African-American culture, and is well known in the United States for his eccentric ...
due to violations of his right to
due process Due process of law is application by state of all legal rules and principles pertaining to the case so all legal rights that are owed to the person are respected. Due process balances the power of law of the land and protects the individual per ...
.


United States

"Relief from judgment" of a
United States District Court The United States district courts are the trial courts of the U.S. federal judiciary. There is one district court for each federal judicial district, which each cover one U.S. state or, in some cases, a portion of a state. Each district co ...
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. The FRCP are promulgated by the United States Supreme Court pursuant to the Rules Enablin ...
.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. federal court with appellate jurisdiction over the courts in the following districts: * Central District of Illinois * Northern District of ...
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