Cite as: 524 U. S. 38 (1998)
Opinion of the Court
scribed in these rules or by an independent action." Fed. Rule Civ. Proc. 60(b).
The new Rule thus made clear that nearly all of the old forms of obtaining relief from a judgment, i. e., coram nobis, coram vobis, audita querela, bills of review, and bills in the nature of review, had been abolished. The revision made equally clear, however, that one of the old forms, i. e., the "independent action," 2 still survived. The Advisory Committee notes confirmed this, indicating that "[i]f the right to make a motion is lost by the expiration of the time limits fixed in these rules, the only other procedural remedy is by a new or independent action to set aside a judgment upon those principles which have heretofore been applied in such an action." Advisory Committee's Notes, supra, at 787.
The "independent action" sounded in equity. While its precise contours are somewhat unclear, it appears to have been more broadly available than the more narrow writs that the 1946 amendment abolished. One case that exemplifies the category is Pacific R. Co. of Mo. v. Missouri Pacific R. Co., 111 U. S. 505 (1884).3
In Pacific the underlying suit had resulted in a court decree foreclosing a mortgage on railroad property and ordering its sale. This Court enforced the decree and shortly thereafter the railroad company whose property had been foreclosed filed a bill to impeach for fraud the foreclosure decree that had just been affirmed. The bill alleged that the plaintiffs in the underlying suit had conspired with the attorney and directors of the plaintiff in the subsequent suit to ensure that the property would be forfeited. The plaintiff in the subsequent suit was a Missouri corporation, and it
2 This form of action was also referred to as an "original action."
3 The authorities that the Advisory Committee cited in its notes accompanying the 1946 amendment to the Rule list Pacific as an example of this cause of action. Moore & Rogers, Federal Relief from Civil Judgments, 55 Yale L. J. 623, 656 (1946); 3 J. Moore & J. Friedman, Moore's Federal Practice 3257, n. 12 (1938).
45
Page: Index Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 NextLast modified: October 4, 2007