## Facts

- Dexter Earl Kemp was convicted in federal court of drug and firearms offenses; the court of appeals affirmed the convictions and sentences on consolidated direct appeal.
- Kemp later filed a motion to vacate under 28 U.S.C. § 2255, which the district court dismissed as untimely under § 2255(f)(1); Kemp did not appeal.
- Kemp moved to reopen the § 2255 proceeding under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 60(b), asserting the district court had miscalculated the § 2255 limitations deadline.
- Kemp characterized his request as Rule 60(b)(6) relief, contending the limitations period should have been measured from a later date tied to codefendants’ rehearing proceedings.
- The Eleventh Circuit agreed the § 2255 motion would have been timely under the correct calculation but held Kemp’s reopening request alleged a judicial “mistake” governed by Rule 60(b)(1) and was untimely under Rule 60(c)’s one-year limit.
- The Supreme Court granted certiorari to decide whether Rule 60(b)(1) covers a judge’s legal errors.

## Issues

1. Whether “mistake” in Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 60(b)(1) includes a district court’s errors of law.
2. If so, whether a motion seeking reopening based on such a legal error must satisfy Rule 60(c)’s one-year deadline, rather than proceeding under Rule 60(b)(6)’s “reasonable time” standard.

## Decision

- The Court affirmed the judgment (8–1).
- “Mistake” in Rule 60(b)(1) includes a judge’s errors of law.
- Because Kemp alleged a judicial legal error, his motion was cognizable under Rule 60(b)(1) and therefore subject to Rule 60(c)’s one-year limitation.
- Kemp could not use Rule 60(b)(6) to avoid the one-year time bar where Rule 60(b)(1) applied.
- Justice Sotomayor concurred, stressing the decision’s limited scope for Rule 60(b)(6) doctrine.
- Justice Gorsuch dissented on case-vehicle grounds, favoring dismissal as improvidently granted.

## Legal Principles

- Rule 60(b)(1) authorizes reopening for “mistake,” including judicial mistakes of law as well as mistakes of fact.
- Rule 60(b)(6) is residual and applies only when the grounds in Rule 60(b)(1)–(5) do not apply.
- When the asserted basis for reopening is a judge’s legal error, the motion must be brought under Rule 60(b)(1) and filed within Rule 60(c)’s one-year period.

## Conclusion

The Court held that judicial legal errors fall within Rule 60(b)(1)’s term “mistake,” making such reopening motions subject to the one-year deadline and unavailable under Rule 60(b)(6)’s catchall provision.


Kemp v. United States, 596 U.S. 528 (2022)