Confession of error is a legal practice whereby the

Solicitor General of the United States The solicitor general of the United States is the fourth-highest-ranking official in the United States Department of Justice. Elizabeth Prelogar has been serving in the role since October 28, 2021. The United States solicitor general represent ...

in his or her role representing the

federal government A federation (also known as a federal state) is a political entity characterized by a union of partially self-governing provinces, states, or other regions under a central federal government (federalism). In a federation, the self-governin ...

before the

Supreme Court of the United States The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point o ...

admits a lower court incorrectly decided a case and it is thereby sent back for reconsideration. By confessing error, the Solicitor General declares that the federal government's position, which prevailed in the lower court, was wrong. The Supreme Court typically then vacates the lower court's judgment and remands the case to allow the lower court to consider it in light of the confession of error. The practice was introduced in 1891 by

William Howard Taft William Howard Taft (September 15, 1857March 8, 1930) was the 27th president of the United States (1909–1913) and the tenth chief justice of the United States (1921–1930), the only person to have held both offices. Taft was elected pr ...

(who would later be U.S. president and then chief justice). At his urging, the Supreme Court overturned a murder conviction which had been obtained by inadmissible

hearsay Hearsay evidence, in a legal forum, is testimony from an under-oath witness who is reciting an out-of-court statement, the content of which is being offered to prove the truth of the matter asserted. In most courts, hearsay evidence is inadmis ...

evidence in Texas. A more modern example is that of Solicitor General

Drew S. Days III Drew Saunders Days III (August 29, 1941 – November 15, 2020) was an American legal scholar who served as Solicitor General of the United States from 1993 to 1996 under President Bill Clinton. He also served as the first African American Assistan ...

, who argued in a petition for

certiorari In law, ''certiorari'' is a court process to seek judicial review of a decision of a lower court or government agency. ''Certiorari'' comes from the name of an English prerogative writ, issued by a superior court to direct that the record of ...

in ''Knox v. United States''''United States v. Knox'', 977 F.2d 815, 817 (3d Cir. 1992), ''cert. granted'', 113 S. Ct. 2926, ''vacated and remanded'', 114 S. Ct. 375 (1993), ''aff'd'', 32 F.3d 733 (3d Cir. 1994), ''cert. denied'', 1994 WL 512613 (U.S. Jan. 17, 1995). that the circuit court's decision had been wrong, even though the circuit court had found in favor of the government. He urged the Supreme Court to vacate Knox's conviction for possession of child pornography; they remanded the case to circuit court.

References

{{US-law-stub Legal error Supreme Court of the United States Legal procedure