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Void judgment

Definitions from Case Law · United States Supreme Court

Definitions from Case Law

From 236 U.S. 115 - Simon v. Southern Railway Co. · 1915Most cited · 662 citing opinions

A judgment obtained in a suit of which the defendant had no notice was a nullity and the party against whom it was obtained was entitled to relief. For in such a case the person named as defendant 'can no more be regarded as a party than any other member of the community.' Such judgments are not erroneous and not voidable, but, upon principles of natural justice, and under the due process clause of the 14th Amendment, are absolutely void. They constitute no justification to a plaintiff who, if concerned in executing such judgments, is considered in law as a mere trespasser.

How often courts cite the case defining “Void judgment”

19101920194019601980200020202030170

Court decisions citing the opinion that defined “Void judgment” — 651 in all, by decade. Counts are citations to the defining case as a whole, not verified uses of the term. The dip in the most recent years is a data-coverage gap, not a real trend — our corpus holds fewer opinions from the latest years.