Over at SCOTUSblog, Stephen Wermiel has a short post about judgments and mandates, and in particular the difference between reversing and vacating a judgment. By statute, SCOTUS has the power to the power to “affirm, modify, vacate, set aside or reverse any judgment” of a lower court, and “remand the cause and direct the entry of such appropriate judgment, decree, order, or require such further proceedings … as may be just under the circumstances.”

What do those terms mean? In short, SCOTUS

• Reverses a judgment that is “absolutely wrong”;

• Vacates a judgment that is “less than absolutely wrong;”;

• Affirms a judgment that it upholds; and

• Remands a judgment to a lower court for further review.

And a SCOTUS judgment becomes effective when the mandate issues.