Kemp v. United States

(Slip Opinion) OCTOBER TERM, 2021 1

Syllabus

NOTE: Where it is feasible, a syllabus (headnote) will be released, as is

being done in connection with this case, at the time the opinion is issued.

The syllabus constitutes no part of the opinion of the Court but has been

prepared by the Reporter of Decisions for the convenience of the reader.

See United States v. Detroit Timber & Lumber Co., 200 U. S. 321, 337.

SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES

Syllabus

KEMP v. UNITED STATES

CERTIORARI TO THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR

THE ELEVENTH CIRCUIT

No. 21–5726. Argued April 19, 2022—Decided June 13, 2022

Petitioner Dexter Kemp and seven codefendants were convicted of vari-

ous drug and gun crimes. The Eleventh Circuit consolidated their ap-

peals and, in November 2013, affirmed their convictions and sen-

tences. In April 2015, Kemp moved the District Court to vacate his

sentence under 28 U. S. C. §2255. The District Court dismissed

Kemp’s motion as untimely because it was not filed within one year of

“the date on which [his] judgment of conviction [became] final.”

§2255(f)(1). Kemp did not appeal. Then, in June 2018, Kemp sought

to reopen his §2255 proceedings under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure

60(b), which authorizes a court to reopen a final judgment under cer-

tain enumerated circumstances. As relevant here, a party may seek

relief within one year under Rule 60(b)(1) based on “mistake, inadvert-

ence, surprise, or excusable neglect.” A party may also seek relief

“within a reasonable time” under Rule 60(b)(6) for “any other reason

that justifies relief,” but relief under Rule 60(b)(6) is available only

when the other grounds for relief specified in Rules 60(b)(1)–(5) are

inapplicable. Kemp’s motion to reopen his §2255 proceedings invoked

Rule 60(b)(6), but his motion sought reopening based on a “mistake”

covered by Rule 60(b)(1). Specifically, Kemp argued that the 1-year

limitations period on his §2255 motion did not begin to run until his

codefendants’ rehearing petitions were denied in May 2014, making

his April 2015 motion timely. The Eleventh Circuit agreed with Kemp

that his §2255 motion was timely but concluded that because Kemp

alleged judicial mistake, his Rule 60(b) motion fell under Rule 60(b)(1),

was subject to Rule 60(c)’s 1-year limitations period, and was therefore

untimely.

Held: The term “mistake” in Rule 60(b)(1) includes a judge’s errors of

2 KEMP v. UNITED STATES

Syllabus

law. Because Kemp’s motion alleged such a legal error, it was cogniza-

ble under Rule 60(b)(1) and untimely under Rule 60(c)’s 1-year limita-

tions period. Pp. 3–10.

(a) As a matter of text, structure, and history, a “mistake” under

Rule 60(b)(1) includes a judge’s errors of law. When the Rule was

adopted in 1938 and revised in 1946, the word “mistake” applied to any

“misconception,” “misunderstanding,” or “fault in opinion or judg-

ment.” Webster’s New International Dictionary 1383. Likewise, in its

legal usage, “mistake” included errors “of law or fact.” Black’s Law

Dictionary 1195. Thus, regardless whether “mistake” in Rule 60(b)(1)

carries its ordinary meaning or legal meaning, it includes a judge’s

mistakes of law. Rule 60(b)(1)’s drafters could have used language to

connote a narrower understanding of “mistake,” yet they chose not to

qualify that term. Similarly, the Rule’s drafters could have excluded

mistakes by judges from the Rule’s reach. In fact, the Rule used to

read that way. When adopted in 1938, Rule 60(b) initially referred to

“his”—i.e., a party’s—“mistake,” so judicial errors were not covered.

The 1946 revision to the Rule deleted the word “his,” thereby removing

any limitation on whose mistakes could qualify. Pp. 4–6.

(b) Neither the Government nor Kemp offers a reason to depart from

this reading of Rule 60(b)(1). Pp. 6–10.

(1) The Government contends that the term “mistake” encom-

passes only so-called “obvious” legal errors. This contention—also held

by several Courts of Appeals—is unconvincing. None of the dictionar-

ies from the time the Rule was adopted and revised suggests this “ob-

viousness” gloss. Nor does the text or history of Rule 60(b)(1) limit its

reach only to flagrant cases that would have historically been corrected

by courts sitting in equity. Finally, requiring courts to decide not only

whether there was a mistake but also whether that mistake was suffi-

ciently “obvious” raises questions of administrability. P. 6.

(2) Kemp’s arguments for limiting Rule 60(b)(1) to non-judicial,

non-legal errors are also unconvincing. He claims that Rule 60(b)(1)’s

other grounds for relief—“inadvertence,” “surprise,” and “excusable

neglect”—involve exclusively non-legal, non-judicial errors, and thus

“mistake” should be similarly limited. But courts have found that ex-

cusable neglect may involve legal error, see, e.g., Lenaghan v. Pepsico,

Inc., 961 F. 2d 1250, 1254–1255, and they have a similar history of

granting relief based on “judicial inadvertence,” Larson v. Heritage

Square Assocs., 952 F. 2d 1533, 1536. Kemp argues that Rule 60’s

structure favors interpreting the term “mistake” narrowly to include

only non-legal errors, and the Court’s contrary interpretation would

create confusing overlap between Rule 60(b)(1) and relief available un-

der other parts of Rule 60 not subject to Rule 60(c)’s 1-year limitations

period. But the overlap Kemp suggests would exist even if “mistake”

Cite as: 596 U. S. ____ (2022) 3

Syllabus

reached only factual errors. Courts of Appeals have well-established

tests for distinguishing between these Rules. And should such overlap

ever create an irreconcilable conflict, courts may then resort to ordi-

nary interpretive rules to determine which Rule to apply. As for

Kemp’s worry that the Court’s interpretation would allow parties to

evade other time limits by, for example, repackaging a tardy motion

under Rule 59(e), the risk Kemp identifies would exist even under his

own interpretation. And, in any event, the alleged specter of litigation

gamesmanship and strategic delay is overstated because a Rule

60(b)(1) motion, like all Rule 60(b) motions, must be made “within a

reasonable time.” Finally, Kemp protests that this Court’s reading is

inconsistent with the history of Rule 60(b). But his argument is based

on the mistaken notions that Rule 60(b)(1)’s list of grounds for reopen-

ing was understood to be a “term of art” when adopted, and that Rule

60(b)(6) alone was intended to afford relief for judicial legal errors that

had previously been remedied by bills of review. Pp. 6–10.

857 Fed. Appx. 573, affirmed.

THOMAS, J., delivered the opinion of the Court, in which ROBERTS, C. J.,

and BREYER, ALITO, SOTOMAYOR, KAGAN, KAVANAUGH, and BARRETT, JJ.,

joined. SOTOMAYOR, J., filed a concurring opinion. GORSUCH, J., filed a

dissenting opinion.

Cite as: 596 U. S. ____ (2022) 1

Opinion of the Court

NOTICE: This opinion is subject to formal revision before publication in the

preliminary print of the United States Reports. Readers are requested to

notify the Reporter of Decisions, Supreme Court of the United States, Wash-

ington, D. C. 20543, of any typographical or other formal errors, in order that

corrections may be made before the preliminary print goes to press.

SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES

_________________

No. 21–5726

_________________

DEXTER EARL KEMP, PETITIONER v.

UNITED STATES

ON WRIT OF CERTIORARI TO THE UNITED STATES COURT OF

APPEALS FOR THE ELEVENTH CIRCUIT

[June 13, 2022]

JUSTICE THOMAS delivered the opinion of the Court.

Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 60(b)(1) allows a party to

seek relief from a final judgment based on, among other

things, a “mistake.” The question presented is whether the

term “mistake” includes a judge’s error of law. We conclude,

based on the text, structure, and history of Rule 60(b), that

a judge’s errors of law are indeed “mistake[s]” under

Rule 60(b)(1).

I

In 2011, a federal jury convicted Dexter Kemp of various

drug and gun crimes, and he was sentenced to 420 months

in prison. Kemp, along with seven codefendants, appealed.

The Eleventh Circuit consolidated their appeals and, in No-

vember 2013, affirmed their convictions and sentences.

United States v. Gray, 544 Fed. Appx. 870. Kemp did not

seek rehearing of the Eleventh Circuit’s judgment or peti-

tion this Court for certiorari. Two of Kemp’s codefendants

did seek rehearing, which the Eleventh Circuit denied in

May 2014.

In April 2015, Kemp moved the U. S. District Court for

2 KEMP v. UNITED STATES

Opinion of the Court

the Southern District of Florida to vacate his sentence un-

der 28 U. S. C. §2255. The Government objected that

Kemp’s §2255 motion was untimely. As relevant here, such

motions must be filed within one year of “the date on which

the judgment of conviction becomes final.” §2255(f )(1). For

someone who, like Kemp, does not petition this Court for

certiorari, a judgment becomes final when the time to seek

certiorari expires—ordinarily, 90 days after judgment. See

Clay v. United States, 537 U. S. 522, 525 (2003); this Court’s

Rule 13.1. In this case, the District Court concluded that

Kemp’s judgment became final in February 2014 (90 days

after the Eleventh Circuit’s judgment affirming his convic-

tion and sentence), making his April 2015 motion over two

months late. The District Court dismissed Kemp’s motion

in September 2016, and Kemp did not appeal.

In June 2018—almost two years later—Kemp attempted

to reopen his §2255 proceedings under Federal Rule of Civil

Procedure 60(b), which authorizes a court to reopen a final

judgment under certain enumerated circumstances. Rule

60(b)(1) permits a district court to reopen a judgment for

“mistake, inadvertence, surprise, or excusable neglect,” so

long as the motion is filed “within a reasonable time,” and,

at most, one year after the entry of the order under review.

See Fed. Rules Civ. Proc. 60(b)(1), (c)(1). Meanwhile, Rule

60(b)(6) permits reopening for “any other reason that justi-

fies relief,” so long as the motion is filed “within a reasona-

ble time.” Rule 60(c)(1).

Kemp invoked Rule 60(b)(6), but his motion arguably

sought reopening based on a kind of “mistake” covered by

Rule 60(b)(1). Specifically, Kemp argued that reopening

was warranted because this Court’s Rule 13.3 prescribes

that the 90-day clock to seek certiorari does not begin to run

until all parties’ petitions for rehearing are denied, and the

Eleventh Circuit denied his codefendants’ rehearing peti-

tions in May 2014. Thus, according to Kemp, the 1-year

Cite as: 596 U. S. ____ (2022) 3

Opinion of the Court

period to file his §2255 motion began in August 2014, mak-

ing his April 2015 motion timely.

The District Court rejected this timeliness argument and,

in the alternative, held that Kemp’s Rule 60(b) motion was

itself untimely. The Eleventh Circuit affirmed. 857 Fed.

Appx. 573 (2021) (per curiam). While it agreed with Kemp

that his original §2255 motion “appear[ed] to have been

timely,” the Eleventh Circuit nonetheless concluded that he

had filed his Rule 60(b) motion too late. Id., at 575–576.

The Eleventh Circuit held that Kemp’s reopening motion

alleged “precisely the sort of judicial mistak[e] in applying

the relevant law that Rule 60(b)(1) encompasses,” and thus

was subject to Rule 60(b)(1)’s 1-year limitations period. Id.,

at 576.

Kemp petitioned this Court for review, and we granted

certiorari to resolve the Courts of Appeals’ longstanding

disagreement whether “mistake” in Rule 60(b)(1) includes

a judge’s errors of law.1 595 U. S. ___ (2022).

II

Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 60(b) permits “a party to

seek relief from a final judgment, and request reopening of

his case, under a limited set of circumstances.” Gonzalez v.

Crosby, 545 U. S. 524, 528 (2005). Under Rule 60(b)(1), a

party may seek relief based on “mistake, inadvertence, sur-

prise, or excusable neglect.” Rules 60(b)(2) through (b)(5)

supply other grounds for reopening a judgment. Finally,

Rule 60(b)(6) provides a catchall for “any other reason that

justifies relief.” This last option is available only when

——————

1 Compare Spinar v. South Dakota Bd. of Regents, 796 F. 2d 1060, 1063

(CA8 1986) (Rule 60(b)(1) does not cover claims “that the court erred as

a matter of law”); Elias v. Ford Motor Co., 734 F. 2d 463, 467 (CA1 1984)

(same), with Mendez v. Republic Bank, 725 F. 3d 651, 659 (CA7 2013)

(Rule 60(b)(1) “allows a district court to correct its own [legal] errors”);

In re 310 Assocs., 346 F. 3d 31, 35 (CA2 2003) (per curiam) (same); United

States v. Reyes, 307 F. 3d 451, 455 (CA6 2002) (same); Parks v. U. S. Life

& Credit Corp., 677 F. 2d 838, 839–840 (CA11 1982) (per curiam) (same).

4 KEMP v. UNITED STATES

Opinion of the Court

Rules 60(b)(1) through (b)(5) are inapplicable. See Liljeberg

v. Health Services Acquisition Corp., 486 U. S. 847, 863, n.

11 (1988). Even then, “ ‘extraordinary circumstances’ ”

must justify reopening. Ibid.

Rule 60(c) imposes deadlines on Rule 60(b) motions. All

must be filed “within a reasonable time.” Rule 60(c)(1). But

for some, including motions under Rule 60(b)(1), that “rea-

sonable time” may not exceed one year. Rule 60(c)(1). Mo-

tions under Rule 60(b)(6) are not subject to this additional

1-year constraint. Rule 60(c)(1).

Here, the parties dispute the extent to which a judge’s

legal errors qualify as “mistake[s]” under Rule 60(b)(1).

The Government contends that Rule 60(b)(1) applies any

time a party alleges that a judge has made an “obvious” le-

gal error—e.g., the “failure to apply unambiguous law to

record facts.” Brief for United States 11. Kemp’s motion,

the Government says, alleged an obvious legal error, so the

Eleventh Circuit was correct to apply Rule 60(b)(1). Accord-

ing to Kemp, however, Rule 60(b)(1) applies only to factual

errors made by someone other than the judge. Brief for Pe-

titioner 3. So, in Kemp’s view, his motion challenging the

District Court’s timeliness ruling was cognizable under

Rule 60(b)(6), and the 1-year limit did not apply.

We ultimately disagree with Kemp and agree with the

Government to a point. As a matter of text, structure, and

history, the Government is correct that a “mistake” under

Rule 60(b)(1) includes a judge’s errors of law. But we see

no reason to limit Rule 60(b)(1) to “obvious” legal mistakes,

as the Government proposes. We first explain why

Rule 60(b)(1) covers all mistakes of law made by a judge,

and then address why the Government’s and Kemp’s con-

trary interpretations of “mistake” do not persuade us.

A

The ordinary meaning of the term “mistake” in

Rule 60(b)(1) includes a judge’s legal errors. When the Rule

Cite as: 596 U. S. ____ (2022) 5

Opinion of the Court

was adopted in 1938 and revised in 1946, the word “mis-

take” applied to any “misconception,” “misunderstanding,”

or “fault in opinion or judgment.” Webster’s New Interna-

tional Dictionary 1383 (1914) (Webster’s); see also Funk &

Wagnalls New Standard Dictionary of the English Lan-

guage 1588 (1944) (Funk & Wagnalls) (defining “mistake”

as an “error in action, judgment, or perceptions,” including,

e.g., “a mistake in calculation”). In ordinary usage, then, a

“mistake” was not limited only to factual “misconception[s]”

or “misunderstanding[s],” or to mistakes by non-judicial ac-

tors. Webster’s 1383. Likewise, in its legal usage, “mis-

take” included errors “of law or fact.” Black’s Law Diction-

ary 1195 (3d ed. 1933) (Black’s). Thus, regardless whether

“mistake” in Rule 60(b)(1) carries its ordinary meaning or

legal meaning, it includes a judge’s mistakes of law.

Had the drafters of Rule 60(b)(1) intended a narrower

meaning, they “easily could have drafted language to that

effect.” Mississippi ex rel. Hood v. AU Optronics Corp., 571

U. S. 161, 169 (2014). The difference between “mistake of

fact” and “mistake of law” was well known at the time. Both

lay and legal dictionaries identified them as distinct cate-

gories. See Funk & Wagnalls 1588; Black’s 1195. Thus,

Rule 60(b)(1)’s drafters had at their disposal readily availa-

ble language that could have connoted a narrower under-

standing of “mistake.” Yet they chose to include “mistake”

unqualified.

Similarly, Rule 60(b)(1)’s drafters could just as easily

have excluded mistakes by judges from the Rule’s ambit. In

fact, the Rule used to read that way. When adopted in 1938,

Rule 60(b) initially referred to “his”—i.e., a party’s—“mis-

take,” so judicial errors were not covered. Fed. Rule Civ.

Proc. 60(b) (1938). In 1946, however, the Rule’s amenders

deleted the word “his,” thereby removing any limitation on

whose mistakes could qualify. See Fed. Rule Civ. Proc.

60(b)(1) (1946). Thus, as currently written, “mistake” in

6 KEMP v. UNITED STATES

Opinion of the Court

Rule 60(b)(1) includes legal errors made by judges.2

B

Both the Government’s and Kemp’s interpretations of

Rule 60(b) depart from aspects of our reading. Their rea-

sons for doing so are unavailing.

1

The Government contends that the term “mistake” en-

compasses only so-called “obvious” legal errors. Brief for

United States 11. Several Courts of Appeals agree that

Rule 60(b)(1) may be used to correct only “ ‘obvious errors’

of law, such as overlooking controlling statutes or case law.”

In re Ta Chi Navigation (Panama) Corp. S. A., 728 F. 2d

699, 703 (CA5 1984). The Government argues that this lim-

itation “has historical roots” because courts of equity tradi-

tionally “could grant relief from legal errors, but only ‘in the

most unquestionable and flagrant cases.’ ” Brief for United

States 18 (quoting Snell v. Insurance Co., 98 U. S. 85, 91

(1878)).

We are unconvinced. None of the English language or

legal dictionaries noted above, supra, at 4–5, suggests this

“obviousness” gloss. Nor does the Government tie the eq-

uity practice it invokes to the text or history of Rule 60(b).

Finally, we question the administrability of a rule that re-

quires courts to decide not only whether there was a “mis-

take” but also whether that mistake was sufficiently “obvi-

ous.” The text does not support—let alone require—that

judges engage in this sort of complex line-drawing.

2

We are similarly unconvinced by Kemp’s arguments for

——————

2 Here, Kemp alleged that the District Court erred by misapplying con-

trolling law to record facts. In deciding that this alleged error is a “mis-

take,” we do not decide whether a judicial decision rendered erroneous

by subsequent legal or factual changes also qualifies as a “mistake” un-

der Rule 60(b)(1).

Cite as: 596 U. S. ____ (2022) 7

Opinion of the Court

limiting Rule 60(b)(1) to non-judicial, non-legal errors.

While Kemp does not dispute that “mistake” ordinarily

would cover both legal and factual errors, he argues that

the other grounds for relief in Rule 60(b)(1)—“inadvert-

ence,” “surprise,” and “excusable neglect”—involve exclu-

sively non-legal, non-judicial errors, and the word “mis-

take” should therefore be similarly limited. But courts have

long found that excusable neglect may involve legal error.

See, e.g., Lenaghan v. Pepsico, Inc., 961 F. 2d 1250, 1254–

1255 (CA6 1992) (per curiam) (“understandable, albeit mis-

taken, reading of ” a local rule); A. F. Dormeyer Co. v. M. J.

Sales & Distribution Co., 461 F. 2d 40, 42–43 (CA7 1972)

(misunderstanding of summons and relevant legal rules);

Provident Security Life Ins. Co. v. Gorsuch, 323 F. 2d 839,

843 (CA9 1963) (erroneous understanding of Federal Rule

of Civil Procedure 12). And they have a similar history of

granting relief based on “judicial inadvertence.” Larson v.

Heritage Square Assocs., 952 F. 2d 1533, 1536 (CA8 1992)

(emphasis added); see also, e.g., O’Tell v. New York, N. H.

& H. R. Co., 236 F. 2d 472, 475 (CA2 1956) (judge’s failure

to deduct setoff in entering judgment was “inadvertence”

under Rule 60(b)). Because the words surrounding “mis-

take” in Rule 60(b)(1) do not connote exclusively non-legal

or non-judicial errors, they do not favor Kemp’s narrower

reading.

Kemp also argues that Rule 60’s structure favors inter-

preting the term “mistake” narrowly. Our interpretation,

he contends, would create confusing overlap between

Rule 60(b)(1) and Rule 60(a), which authorizes a court to

“correct a clerical mistake or a mistake arising from over-

sight or omission whenever one is found in a judgment, or-

der, or other part of the record.” We disagree. Because

Rule 60(a) covers a subset of “mistake[s]”—e.g., “clerical”

ones—whereas Rule 60(b)(1) covers “mistake[s]” sim-

pliciter, the overlap Kemp alleges would exist even if “mis-

8 KEMP v. UNITED STATES

Opinion of the Court

take” reached only factual errors. And the Courts of Ap-

peals have well-established rules for determining when

Rule 60(a), rather than Rule 60(b), should apply. See, e.g.,

United States v. Griffin, 782 F. 2d 1393, 1397 (CA7 1986).

Kemp alleges that our interpretation of Rule 60(b)(1)

would create a similar problem with respect to

Rules 60(b)(4) and (b)(5), which authorize relief from voided

judgments and judgments that lack legal effect. Specifi-

cally, Kemp contends that a legal “mistake” could warrant

relief under both Rule 60(b)(1) and Rule 60(b)(4) or

Rule (b)(5), and a conflict could then arise given that the

latter Rules are not subject to a 1-year time limit. But,

again, that could occur even if only factual errors count as

“mistake[s],” since factual errors, too, may justify relief un-

der Rules 60(b)(4) and (b)(5). And, regardless, should this

overlap ever create an irreconcilable conflict, courts may

then resort to ordinary rules of statutory construction when

selecting which provision would govern in a particular case.

See, e.g., RadLAX Gateway Hotel, LLC v. Amalgamated

Bank, 566 U. S. 639, 645 (2012) (“ ‘the specific governs the

general’ ”).

Kemp also worries that our interpretation would allow

parties to evade other time limits set forth in the Federal

Rules. For instance, Rule 59(e) motions to alter or amend

a judgment must be filed within 28 days, and appeals must

generally be filed within 30 days, see Fed. Rule App. Proc.

4(a)(1)(a). Kemp suggests that our interpretation would al-

low someone to repackage a tardy Rule 59(e) motion as a

timely Rule 60(b)(1) motion, or to generate a right to an un-

timely appeal by filing a Rule 60(b)(1) motion and appealing

once it is denied. We are unpersuaded because, yet again,

the risk Kemp identifies would exist even under his own

interpretation. For example, Kemp provides no explana-

tion why, under his interpretation of Rule 60(b), parties

could not repackage tardy Rule 59(e) motions based on legal

errors as motions under Rule 60(b)(6), or recharacterize

Cite as: 596 U. S. ____ (2022) 9

Opinion of the Court

tardy motions based on factual errors as motions under

Rule 60(b)(1). A denial in either case would then permit the

litigant to appeal outside Appellate Rule 4’s 30-day time

limit.

In any event, the alleged specter of litigation gamesman-

ship and strategic delay is overstated. Rule 60(b)(1) mo-

tions, like all Rule 60(b) motions, must be made “within a

reasonable time.” Fed. Rule Civ. Proc. 60(c)(1). And while

we have no cause to define the “reasonable time” standard

here, we note that Courts of Appeals have used it to fore-

stall abusive litigation by denying Rule 60(b)(1) motions al-

leging errors that should have been raised sooner (e.g., in a

timely appeal). See, e.g., Mendez v. Republic Bank, 725

F. 3d 651, 660 (CA7 2013).

Nor, contrary to Kemp’s protestations, is our interpreta-

tion inconsistent with the history of Rule 60(b). Kemp

points out that Rule 60(b)(1) drew its text from existing

state procedural rules. See, e.g., Cal. Civ. Proc. Code §473

(Deering 1937). And he argues that its list of grounds for

reopening—“ ‘mistake, inadvertence, surprise, and excusa-

ble neglect’ ”—was understood when Rule 60(b) was

adopted to be a “term of art” that excluded legal errors.

Brief for Petitioner 10. But while some States interpreted

their rules this way, see, e.g., Lucas v. North Carolina Mut.

Life Ins. Co., 184 S. C. 119, 120, 191 S. E. 711, 712 (1937)

(collecting cases), others, like California, did not, see, e.g.,

Mitchell v. California & O. C. S. S. Co., 156 Cal. 576, 578,

105 P. 590, 592 (1909). Moreover, at least one leading trea-

tise from the era maintained, consistent with our view, that

“mistake” encompassed legal errors. See 3 J. Moore & J.

Friedman, Moore’s Federal Practice §60.05, p. 3280 (1938).

Although statutory language “obviously transplanted from

another legal source” will often “bring the old soil with it,”

Taggart v. Lorenzen, 587 U. S. ___, ___ (2019) (slip op., at 5)

(internal quotation marks and alterations omitted), that

10 KEMP v. UNITED STATES

Opinion of the Court

principle applies only when a term’s meaning was “well-set-

tled” before the transplantation, Neder v. United States,

527 U. S. 1, 22 (1999). Here, it was not.

Finally, Kemp invokes Rule 60(b)’s 1946 amendments re-

placing “bills of review” and other traditional, postjudgment

reopening mechanisms with Rules 60(b)(2) through (b)(6).

See Fed. Rule Civ. Proc. 60(b) (1946). He argues that

Rule 60(b)(6) alone was intended to afford relief for judicial

legal errors that had previously been remedied by bills of

review, because such errors were not cognizable under

Rule 60(b)’s “mistake” provision or its predecessor state

rules prior to the 1946 amendments. But, as noted, the pre-

amendment Rule 60(b) covered only a party’s mistakes, see

supra, at 5–6, and for that reason could not be grounds to

correct a judge’s legal mistake. By eliminating that party-

specific qualifier, the 1946 amendments opened Rule

60(b)(1) to judicial mistakes of law previously remediable

only by bills of review.

* * *

In sum, nothing in the text, structure, or history of

Rule 60(b) persuades us to narrowly interpret the otherwise

broad term “mistake” to exclude judicial errors of law. Be-

cause Kemp’s Rule 60(b) motion alleged such a legal error,

we affirm the Eleventh Circuit’s judgment that the motion

was cognizable under Rule 60(b)(1), subject to a 1-year lim-

itations period, and, therefore, untimely.

It is so ordered.

Cite as: 596 U. S. ____ (2022) 1

SOTOMAYOR, J., concurring

SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES

_________________

No. 21–5726

_________________

DEXTER EARL KEMP, PETITIONER v.

UNITED STATES

ON WRIT OF CERTIORARI TO THE UNITED STATES COURT OF

APPEALS FOR THE ELEVENTH CIRCUIT

[June 13, 2022]

JUSTICE SOTOMAYOR, concurring.

I join the Court’s opinion holding that the term “mistake”

in Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 60(b)(1) encompasses a

judge’s mistake of law. I write separately to make two

points.

First, I join the Court’s opinion with the understanding

that nothing in it casts doubt on the availability of Rule

60(b)(6) to reopen a judgment in extraordinary circum-

stances, including a change in controlling law. See, e.g.,

Buck v. Davis, 580 U. S. 100, 126, 128 (2017) (concluding

that the petitioner was “entitle[d] to relief under Rule

60(b)(6)” because of a change in law and intervening devel-

opments of fact); Gonzalez v. Crosby, 545 U. S. 524, 531

(2005) (“[A] motion might contend that a subsequent

change in substantive law is a ‘reason justifying relief,’ Fed.

Rule Civ. Proc. 60(b)(6), from the previous denial of a

claim”); Polites v. United States, 364 U. S. 426, 433 (1960)

(leaving open that a “clear and authoritative change” in the

law governing judgment in a case may present extraordi-

nary circumstances). Today’s decision does not purport to

disturb these settled precedents.

Second, I do not understand the Court’s opinion to break

any new ground as to Rule 60(c)(1), which requires that all

Rule 60(b) motions be “made within a reasonable time.” See

11 C. Wright, A. Miller, & M. Kane, Federal Practice and

2 KEMP v. UNITED STATES

SOTOMAYOR, J., concurring

Procedure §2866 (3d ed. 2022) (“What constitutes reasona-

ble time necessarily depends on the facts in each individual

case”).

Cite as: 596 U. S. ____ (2022) 1

GORSUCH, J., dissenting

SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES

_________________

No. 21–5726

_________________

DEXTER EARL KEMP, PETITIONER v.

UNITED STATES

ON WRIT OF CERTIORARI TO THE UNITED STATES COURT OF

APPEALS FOR THE ELEVENTH CIRCUIT

[June 13, 2022]

JUSTICE GORSUCH, dissenting.

The Court took this case to determine whether a district

court’s mistake of law is correctable under Federal Rule of

Civil Procedure 60(b)(1) or 60(b)(6).

From the start, granting review was a questionable use

of judicial resources. The answer matters only under rare

circumstances: A losing party fails to appeal or secure relief

under Rule 59(e), opting instead to file a Rule 60(b) motion.

That motion comes more than a year after judgment but—

piling contingency on contingency—within what the court

would otherwise deem a “reasonable time.” Rule 60(c)(1).

By petitioner’s own (uncontested) count, his is the first pe-

tition ever to present today’s question for this Court’s re-

view. See Pet. for Cert. 24; Brief in Opposition 26. Beyond

even that, an alternative route exists to resolve the ques-

tion posed here. Congress has adopted the Rules Enabling

Act. See 28 U. S. C. §§ 2071–2077. Under its terms, a com-

mittee composed of judges and practitioners may recom-

mend to this Court any warranted clarifications to the Fed-

eral Rules of Civil Procedure. § 2073. Those

recommendations generally take effect upon our approval

and absent congressional objection. § 2074.

Undeterred, the Court takes up and resolves this case an-

yway. It holds that Rule 60(b)(1), not Rule 60(b)(6), applies.

In an unexpected twist, the Court adopts a further position

2 KEMP v. UNITED STATES

GORSUCH, J., dissenting

neither party saw fit to advance. Going forward, every ju-

dicial legal error—not just an inadvertent or obvious “mis-

take”—is fodder for collateral attack under Rule 60(b)(1).

And what is the basis for all this? A mysterious 1946

amendment deleting the word “ ‘his.’ ” See ante, at 5–6.

Respectfully, I would have dismissed the writ of certiorari

as improvidently granted. Not only does this case fail to

meet our usual standards for review. See Supreme Court

Rule 10. At bottom, this dispute presents a policy question

about the proper balance between finality and error correc-

tion. Should a district court be able to clean up a legal error

through a collateral proceeding on any reasonable timeline

within a year of judgment? Or do Rule 59(e) and the appel-

late process provide the necessary corrective measures in

ordinary cases, with Rule 60(b)(6) as a last, narrow avenue

to relief? Questions like these are best resolved not through

a doubtful interpretive project focused on a pronoun

dropped in 1946, but through the rulemaking process.

There, policy interests on both sides can be accounted for

and weighed in light of the “collective experience of bench

and bar.” Mohawk Industries, Inc. v. Carpenter, 558 U. S.

100, 114 (2009).