Editing Vacated judgment

{{short description|Voiding a previous legal judgment}}
{{redirect|Vacate|sports|Vacated victory|text=Not to be confused with [[Vacation]]}}
A '''vacated judgment''' (also known as '''vacatur relief''') is a [[legal judgment]] that legally [[Void (law)|voids]] a previous legal judgment. A vacated judgment is usually the result of the judgment of an [[appellate court]], which overturns, reverses, or sets aside the judgment of a lower court. An [[appellate court]] 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]]'' (at the court's initiative).<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Hamilton |first1=Theodore J. |title=A Final Judgment Is Not Always Final: The Relief from Final Judgment Rule |journal=Commercial Law World |date=2021 |volume=35 |pages=18 |url=https://heinonline.org/HOL/LandingPage?handle=hein.journals/colaworl35&div=55 |access-date=6 October 2023 |url-access=subscription}}</ref>

A vacated judgment may free the parties to [[civil litigation]] 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]], the former chairman and CEO of [[Enron]] who died before sentencing, and [[Aaron Hernandez]], a former football player who killed himself in jail before his appeals were exhausted. In the latter case, the vacatur was itself later overturned.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.cnn.com/2019/03/13/us/aaron-hernandez-murder-conviction-reinstated/index.html|title=Aaron Hernandez's murder conviction reinstated by high court|author1=Tony Marco |author2=Ray Sanchez|website=CNN|date=13 March 2019}}</ref>

==United States==
"Relief from judgment" of a [[United States District Court]] is governed by Rule 60 of the [[Federal Rules of Civil Procedure]].<ref name=FRCP>[http://www.uscourts.gov/uscourts/rules/civil-procedure.pdf Federal Rules of Civil Procedure] (Dec. 1, 2012)</ref> The [[United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit]] has noted that a vacated judgment "place[s] the parties in the position of no trial having taken place at all; thus a vacated judgment is of no further force or effect."<ref name=Williams>[https://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?q=US+v+Williams+904+F.2d+7&hl=en&as_sdt=2003&case=190430425095829460&scilh=0 ''United States v. Williams''], 904 F.2d 7, 8 (7th Cir. 1990) (citations removed).</ref>

{{anchor|Munsingwear vacatur|United States v. Munsingwear, Inc.}}
One form of a vacatur in the United States legal system was established by ''United States v. Munsingwear, Inc.'' {{ussc|340|36|1950}}, 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.<ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.scotusblog.com/2008/06/practice-pointer-mootness-and-munsingwear-vacatur/ | title = Practice Pointer: Mootness and Munsingwear Vacatur | first = Pattie | last = Millett | date = June 10, 2008 | access-date = November 5, 2018 | work = [[SCOTUSblog]] }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url = http://apps.americanbar.org/litigation/committees/appellate/articles/spring2014-0414-consequences-mootness-appeal.html | title = Consequences of Mootness on Appeal | first = David | last= Schoen |date = April 3, 2014| access-date = November 5, 2018 | publisher = [[American Bar Association]] }}</ref>

==See also==
{{wiktionary|vacatur}}
* {{Annotated link |Central Park jogger case}}
* {{Annotated link |Judgement|Judgment}}
* {{Annotated link |Jury nullification}}
* {{Annotated link |Kenneth Lay}}
* {{Annotated link |Remand (court procedure)}}
* {{Annotated link |Abatement ab initio}}
* {{Annotated link |Expungement}}

==References==
<references />

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vacated Judgment}}
[[Category:Judgment (law)]]
[[Category:Civil procedure]]