Document ID: ./input/supremecourt_opinions/opinions/21pdf/21-5726_5iel.pdf
Page Number: 7

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