Notre Dame Law Review Volume 96 Issue 1 Article 4 11-13-2020 The Remand Power and the Supreme Court's Role Aaron-Andrew P. Bruhl Associate Dean for Research and Faculty Development and Rita Anne Rollins Professor of Law, William & Mary Law School Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarship.law.nd.edu/ndlr Part of the Courts Commons, and the Litigation Commons Recommended Citation 96 Notre Dame L. Rev. 171 (2020) This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Notre Dame Law Review at NDLScholarship. It has been accepted for inclusion in Notre Dame Law Review by an authorized editor of NDLScholarship. For more information, please contact
[email protected]. \\jciprod01\productn\N\NDL\96-1\NDL104.txt unknown Seq: 1 5-NOV-20 8:34 THE REMAND POWER AND THE SUPREME COURT’S ROLE Aaron-Andrew P. Bruhl* “Reversed and remanded.” Or “vacated and remanded.” These familiar words, often found at the end of an appellate decision, emphasize that an appellate court’s conclusion that the lower court erred generally does not end the litigation. The power to remand for further proceed- ings rather than wrap up a case is useful for appellate courts because they may lack the institu- tional competence to bring the case to a final resolution (as when new factual findings are necessary) or lack an interest in the fact-specific work of applying a newly announced legal standard to the particular circumstances at hand. The modern Supreme Court has carried the power to remand rather far, vacating and remanding in some cases in which it is unclear whether the lower court erred in any respect.